SYDNEY, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Australian shares are set to follow Wall Street downward on Friday, depressed by mining and energy stocks with a Brazil dam disaster weighing on BHP Billiton (L:BLT) and worries about weak demand hitting metals and oil prices.
Local share price index futures YAPcm1 fell 1.3 percent to 5,063.0, and sat at a 62.7-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO , pointing to a weaker opening.
New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index .NZ50 dipped 0.2 percent to 6,010.7 in early trade.
Nine Entertainment Co Holdings NEC.AX and Southern Cross Austereo SXL.AX will be in the frame after The Australian newspaper reported they were in talks to merge. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1375LF
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ For a summary of overnight action across global markets, click on
AU/CALL For a digest of the day's business stories in Australian newspapers, click on
PRESS/AUB
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>