Australian shares are likely to open higher on Friday, possibly snapping a four-day losing streak, as the resource stock weighted market is set to gain from a rebound in metal prices after China Evergrande Group averted a destabilising default.

The local share price index futures rose 0.5%, a 23.1-point premium to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index close.

The benchmark fell 0.6% on Thursday.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.2% by 2121 GMT.