Feb 16 (Reuters) - Australian shares are set to move slightly higher at Friday's open, tracking positive performance in equities and oil in the United States.
All three major U.S. indices ended more than 1.2 percent higher on Thursday while U.S. crude oil futures settled up 1.2 percent, with a weak U.S. dollar in the backdrop. Australian share price index futures rose about 0.3 percent, or 20 points, to 5,882, a 27-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index close. The benchmark added 1.2 percent on Thursday.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.2 percent in early trade, due to gains in industrials and consumer staples.
The biggest prop on the index was a2 Milk , which was trading as much as 0.9 percent higher.
The Pacific nation is due to report January Manufacturing PMI data later in the day.
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