Feb 21 (Reuters) - Australian shares are expected to slip at Wednesday's open as metal prices on the London Metal Exchange continued to weaken.
Copper edged down 0.4 percent on Tuesday, while aluminium fell 1.3 percent.
Australian share price index futures fell about 0.5 percent, or 28 points, to 5,877, a 63.9-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index close. The benchmark was flat on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 1 percent in early trade, primarily due to consumer staples.
The biggest prop to the index and its biggest percentage gainer was a2 Milk Company Ltd , which zoomed as much as 16.8 percent to an all-time high. The firm reported a record first half profit due to higher demand in China. (Reporting by Aaron Saldanha in Bengaluru; editing by Mark Heinrich)
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