Feb 1 (Reuters) - Australian shares were poised to open lower on Monday, tracking a sharp sell-off in U.S. equities on Friday amid a clash between Wall Street hedge funds and retail investors, while a fresh lockdown in the country's fourth-most populous city was likely to weigh on domestic risk appetite.
The country's 14-day streak of no locally acquired cases came to an end as a security guard working in hotel quarantine in Perth tested positive for COVID-19, prompting authorities to order a five-day lockdown in the city. local share price index futures YAPcm1 fell 0.5%, a 100.4-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO close. The benchmark declined 0.6% on Friday.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 fell 0.2% at 2118 GMT.