April 3 (Reuters) - Australian shares were likely to

open lower on Wednesday, as prospects of an interest rate cut by

the U.S. Federal Reserve in the middle of this year dwindled

after recent solid U.S. economic reports.

The local share price index futures fell 0.4%, a

19.1-point premium to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index

close. The benchmark fell 0.1% on Tuesday.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.2%

to 12,077.07 by 2122 GMT.