SYDNEY, June 23 (Reuters) - Australian shares could edge higher at Thursday's open after two UK opinion polls suggested the country would vote to stay in the European Union, albeit by the slimmest of margins.
The local share price index futures YAPcm1 were off 0.3 percent to trade at a 69 point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO close. The benchmark ended little changed on Wednesday at 5,270.9.
Yet the mood could be lightened after the latest YouGov opinion poll for The Times newspaper showed the "In" camp led "Out" by 51 percent to 49 percent.
A ComRes opinion poll published a day before the country's EU membership referendum showed "In" had a lead of 48 percent to 42 percent.
News of the polls helped futures in the S&P 500 ESc1 rally 0.5 percent after the New York close.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 rose 0.1 percent to 6,788.36 in early trade.
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