Jan 6 (Reuters) - Australian shares are set to open marginally lower on Monday in rising tensions between Washington and Tehran after the U.S. killing of Iran's top military commander in an air strike last week.
Iran promised vengeance after the U.S. air strike in Baghdad on Friday killed Qassem Soleimani, Tehran's most prominent military commander. Investors sold equities in favor of safe-haven assets.
However, a surge in oil prices and Chinese iron ore futures are likely to fuel gains among the benchmark's heavyweight resource stocks, which may help offset the sentiment-driven losses.
The local share price index futures YAPcm1 fell 4 points or 0.1%, a 1.2% discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO close. The benchmark rose 0.6% on Friday.
Elsewhere, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 fell 0.3% by 2125 GMT.