Feb 22 (Reuters) - Australian shares are expected to remain flat at Thursday's open, following a muted performance on Wall Street and a slip in U.S. crude futures.
U.S. stocks closed lower on Wednesday in a rocky session after the release of the minutes from the Federal Reserve's January meeting pushed yields on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note to a four-year high. Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) futures fell 0.2 percent. U.S. crude inventories were forecast to have risen for the fourth consecutive week, an extended Reuters poll showed. Australian share price index futures rose 2points, to 5,916, a 27.7-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index close. The benchmark posted meagre gains on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 1 percent in early trade, primarily due to consumer staples.
The main index's biggest prop was a2 Milk Company Ltd , which jumped as much as 8 percent. The stock set an all-time high for a second straight day. On Wednesday, the firm reported a record first half profit due to higher demand in China. (Reporting by Aaron Saldanha in Bengaluru; editing by Andrew Roche)
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