By Soumyajit Saha
June 25 (Reuters) - Australian shares are set to open lower on Thursday as fears of a second wave of coronavirus infections at home and around the world renew worries about further economic pain.
The country on Wednesday reported its first COVID-19 death in over a month in Victoria state. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund said the pandemic is causing wider and deeper damage to economic activity than first thought. local share price index futures YAPcm1 fell 1.6%, a 128.7-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO close. The benchmark rose 0.2% on Wednesday.
In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 rose 1.14% to 11,259.4 in early trade.