Australian shares are set to open flat on Friday, with Wall Street slipping overnight on concerns of a potential shift in U.S. Federal Reserve policy, and domestic miners likely to gain on surging iron ore prices.

The local share price index futures rose 0.1pc, a 75.2-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index close.

The benchmark lost 0.54pc to end at 7,491.2 points on Thursday.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.3pc to 13,090.9 points in early trade.