Sept 25 (Reuters) - Australian shares are likely to open marginally higher on Friday, with mining stocks seen boosting the benchmark as iron ore prices rose, while a fall in infections in Victoria improved hopes that restrictions will be eased sooner than expected.
The local share price index futures YAPcm1 inched 0.1% higher, a 13.9-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO close. The benchmark fell 0.8% on Thursday.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 had risen 0.3% by 2228 GMT.