SYDNEY, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Australian shares are expected to fall for a sixth consecutive session on Friday as a tumbling oil price and concerns about volatility on the Chinese share market unnerve investors.
The local share price index futures YAPcm1 were down 63.0 points at 4,895.0, a 115.3-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO close. On Thursday, the benchmark dipped 112.8 points, or 2.2 percent, to 5,010.3, its biggest drop in three months.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 was down 45.2 points, or 0.7 percent, to 6,168.2 in early trade.
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