SYDNEY, May 12 (Reuters) - Australian shares are expected to open lower on Thursday tracking Wall Street after it suffered its worst day since February following feeble quarterly retail reports.
Local share prices index futures YAPcm1 fell 0.6 percent to 5,327 points, a 45.3-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX200 index. The benchmark hit a 9-month high on Wednesday before ending at 5,372.30 points.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 was mostly flat in early trading at 6,945.02 points after scaling an all-time high on Wednesday.
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