Australia shares are expected to open lower on Tuesday, hurt by likely losses in commodity-reliant indexes due to weaker prices, rising Omicron infections and worries around an interest rate hike.

The local share price index futures fell 0.6%, and were trading at a 149.1-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index close.

The benchmark had ended 0.1% lower on Monday.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index lost 0.3% to 12,856.85 points in early trade.