Australian shares are set to open flat on Friday, with a drop in iron ore prices set to weigh on miners and offset gains in tech stocks following a solid performance by their US peers overnight.

The local share price index futures was up by 0.03%, a 37.8-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index close.

In the previous session, the benchmark rose to close at a 13-month high.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.2% to 12,661.38 in early trade.