Nov 16 (Reuters) - Australian shares are set open marginally higher on Thursday helped by a recovery in base metal prices, while a drop in oil prices could exert pressure on energy stocks.
Aluminium prices CMAL3 ended up 1.2 percent and London Metal Exchange (LME) copper rose 0.2 percent on Wednesday, having earlier hit a more than one-month low. MET/L
The local share price index futures YAPcm1 rose 0.2 percent, or 14 points, to 5956, a 21.8-point premium to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO close. The benchmark fell 0.6 percent on Wednesday.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 fell 0.04 percent or 3.41 points to 7996.53 in early trade.