Feb 16 (Reuters) - Australian shares are set to move slightly higher at Friday's open, tracking positive performance in equities and oil in the United States.
All three major U.S. indices .SPX .IXIC .DJI ended more than 1.2 percent higher on Thursday while U.S. crude oil futures settled up 1.2 percent, with a weak U.S. dollar in the backdrop. .N O/R share price index futures YAPcm1 rose about 0.3 percent, or 20 points, to 5,882, a 27-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO close. The benchmark added 1.2 percent on Thursday.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 rose 0.2 percent in early trade, due to gains in industrials and consumer staples.
The biggest prop on the index was a2 Milk ATM.NZ , which was trading as much as 0.9 percent higher.
The Pacific nation is due to report January Manufacturing PMI data later in the day.