Feb 28 (Reuters) - Australian shares are set to tumble on Friday, tracking major U.S. stock indexes which briefly slipped into correction territory overnight as fears mounted over the rapid spread of the coronavirus across the globe.
Governments from Iran to Australia raced to contain the outbreak's spread, with new infections reported around the world surpassing those in mainland China. Prices of oil, iron-ore and other base metals all slipped. local share price index futures YAPcm1 fell 1.6% or 109 points, a 2.3% discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO close. The benchmark fell 0.8% on Thursday.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 fell about 2% to 11,209.59 by 2113 GMT.