Australian shares are likely to open roughly unchanged on Friday, with concerns that rising oil prices are a risk to the global growth outlook offset by signs the U.S. economy is recovering.

* Share price index futures rose 0.3 percent to 4,273.0, but that is a 13.2-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index. The benchmark broke a four-day winning streak on Thursday, slipping 0.2 percent.

* New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index gave up just 2.6 points to be at 3,320.5 in early trade.

* Wall Street stocks rose on Thursday after data showed the U.S. labour market remained on the mend, but the market once again stalled as it approached peaks not seen since before the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers.

* Copper fell for a second day on Thursday, pressured by tepid Chinese buying at the start of the year, and expectations of recession in the euro zone and its negative implications for industrial metals demand. Gold rose to a three-month high underpinned by its inflation hedge appeal.

* Investors will be keeping a close eye on testimony from Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens from 2230 GMT, where he is expected to reiterate that interest rates are on hold given a favourable outlook for domestic growth and inflation.

* Reporting season continues with casinos groups Crown and Echo Entertainment reporting first-half results on Friday. ----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2139 GMT ------------

INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG S&P 500 1363.46 0.43% 5.800 USD/JPY 79.96 -0.34% -0.270 10-YR US TSY YLD 1.9965 -- -0.005 SPOT GOLD 1779.99 0.24% 4.200 US CRUDE 108.58 2.16% 2.300 DOW JONES 12984.69 0.36% 46.02 ASIA ADRS 130.18 -0.05% -0.06 -------------------------------------------------------------

* Wall St ends higher on jobless claims * US crude up more than $2 in post-settlement trade * Gold rises for 4th day on easing worries, Greece * Copper dips on weakening global demand

For a digest of the day's business stories in Australian newspapers, double click on

(Australia/New Zealand bureaux; +61 2 9373 1800/+64 4 471 4234)

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First Published: 2012-02-23 01:53:21
Updated 2012-02-23 23:58:03





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