Australia shares set to open flat; NZ edges lower

Australian shares are set to be little
changed at the open on Friday, as Wall Street ended positive
after suffering steep losses earlier in the session.
All three of the major U.S. indexes turned positive late in
Thursday’s session. The initial losses came after a measure of
U.S. consumer confidence posted its sharpest decline in more
than three years in December.
The local share price index futures was flat at a
44.2-point discount to the underlying