Jan 24 (Reuters) - Australian shares are expected to open little changed on Thursday, tracking declines on Wall Street as persistent worries over slowing global growth, trade tensions and the U.S. government shutdown kept investors on the sidelines.
The world's largest economy could end up with zero growth in the first quarter if the shutdown which began on Dec. 22, extended for the whole quarter, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett told CNN in an interview. local share price index futures YAPcm1 was flat at a 52.7-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO close. The benchmark fell 0.3 percent on Wednesday.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 was flat in early trade at 9,095.49.