SYDNEY, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Australian shares look set for a fifth straight session of losses on Thursday after a steep drop in oil led other commodities lower and Wall Street indexes fell more than 1 percent.
Crude oil prices plunged 6 percent on Wednesday and broke below $35 per barrel for the first time since 2004. O/R
Share price index futures YAPcm1 were down a surprisingly small 0.1 percent but still trading at a 53-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO close.
The S&P/ASX 200 index shed 1.18 percent to 5,123.1 on Wednesday.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 fell 0.5 percent in early trade.
For a summary of overnight action across global markets, double click on AU/CALL
For a digest of the day's business stories in Australian newspapers, double click on PRESS/AUB