Australia shares seen steadying after fall, iron ore supports

CANBERRA, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Australian shares are likely to
steady on Friday, drawing support from a rise in iron ore prices
and more signs China's economic growth is bottoming out, but
held back by concerns about the U.S. fiscal stand-off and the
euro zone debt crisis.

* Local share price index futures edged up 0.1
percent to 4,357, a 7.8-point premium to the underlying S&P/ASX
200 index. The benchmark fell 0.9 percent to its weakest
close in two months on Thursday.
* New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index eased 0.1
percent to 3,947.2 in early trade.
* On Wall Street, U.S. stocks were little changed as the
prospect of a drawn-out battle over impending tax and spending
changes kept investors wary, while retailer Wal-Mart tumbled
after disappointing sales.
* Copper steadied on Thursday, as signs that a slide in
China's economic growth may have halted were countered by
concerns about a recession in the euro zone and looming deadline
for a deal on U.S. spending cuts and tax increases.
* Spot iron ore prices hovered at their highest in nearly
four months, supported by firming steel demand in top market
China that some traders say could sustain a recovery in iron ore
through the early part of 2013.

----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2240 GMT ------------
INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 1353.33 -0.16% -2.160
USD/JPY 81.13 -0.01% -0.010
10-YR US TSY YLD 1.5945 -- 0.005
SPOT GOLD 1715.9 0.04% 0.710
US CRUDE 85.45 -1.01% -0.870
DOW JONES 12542.38 -0.23% -28.57
ASIA ADRS 117.34 1.24% 1.44
-------------------------------------------------------------

* Wall St ends flat as wary investors stay defensive
* Oil falls as economic fears outweigh Mideast violence
* Gold falls to 1-week low on global recession fears
* Copper flat; wary of euro zone recession, fiscal cliff

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(Reporting By Maggie Lu Yueyang and Victoria Thieberger;
Editing by John Mair)