MELBOURNE, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Australian shares face a cautious start on Friday after Moody's revised its outlook on the country's banks down to negative from stable.
Investors will also be watching for more company results, including Woodside, Insurance Australia Group and Medibank.
Local share price index futures YAPcm1 rose 0.3 percent to 5,491.0, but that was a 16.8-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO close. The benchmark index fell 0.5 percent on Thursday.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 inched up 5.2 points to 7,390.32 in early trade.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ For a summary of overnight action across global markets, click on
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