Australian shares were set to slip on Friday, with energy stocks likely to decline, as Wall Street edged lower overnight after US President Joe Biden's comments on China stoked worries over relations between the two nations.

US stocks slid in the last session after Biden warned that China was poised to "eat our lunch," and said the United States must raise its game in the face of the challenge from China.

The local share price index futures slipped 0.03, a 73.1-point premium/discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index close.

The benchmark shed 0.1% on Thursday.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.3 by 2122 GMT.