MELBOURNE: Australian shares are set to open lower, with concerns about a cash crunch holding back growth in China weighing on the big miners and offsetting gains in companies benefiting from a stronger US dollar.

* Stock index futures fell 0.6 percent to 4,603.0, a 66.1-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index close. The benchmark dropped 1.5 percent on Monday.

* New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index fell 0.4 percent to 4,344.5 in early trade.

* US stocks fell more than 1 percent on Monday, adding to a sell-off built on concerns about reduced stimulus from the Federal Reserve and on overnight losses in Chinese equity markets.

* Copper slumped to its lowest level in almost three years on Monday, pressured by a firmer dollar and concerns that a possible liquidity squeeze could hurt the economy and demand in top metals consumer China. Gold fell about 1 percent.

* Less than a week after the US Federal Reserve set off a cascade of selling in global markets, two of its top officials downplayed the notion of an imminent end to monetary stimulus and said on Monday the market reaction was not yet cause for concern.