SYDNEY, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Australian shares are set for a difficult start on Wednesday following a negative lead from Wall Street, with energy stocks likely to be hit by a renewed slide in oil prices.
Pointing to a soft open, share price index futures YAPcm1 fell 0.6 percent to 4,916.0, a 63.6-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO . The benchmark ended 0.43 percent lower on Tuesday, reversing from a three-week peak.
A flood of corporate earnings will be closely watched as well. Among those that have just announced their results were Asciano AIO.AX and Wesfarmers WES.AX . mood was slightly better across the Tasman Sea with New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 up 0.22 percent, or 13.56 points, at 6,189.23.
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