Australian shares are headed for a weaker start on Friday, with energy and gold indexes expected to drag due to weak commodity prices, after the US Federal Reserve indicated a sooner-than-expected tightening in its monetary policy.

The local share price index futures fell 0.5%, a 54.0-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index close. The benchmark closed 0.4% lower on Thursday.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index was nearly unchanged, down 0.02% to 12,538.72 points in early trade.