Jan 6 (Reuters) - Australian shares are set to open
marginally lower on Monday in rising tensions between Washington
and Tehran after the U.S. killing of Iran's top military
commander in an air strike last week.
Iran promised vengeance after the U.S. air strike in Baghdad
on Friday killed Qassem Soleimani, Tehran's most prominent
military commander. Investors sold equities in
favor of safe-haven assets.
However, a surge in oil prices and Chinese iron ore futures
are likely to fuel gains among the benchmark's heavyweight
resource stocks, which may help offset the sentiment-driven
losses.
The local share price index futures fell 4 points
or 0.1%, a 1.2% discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index
close. The benchmark rose 0.6% on Friday.
Elsewhere, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index
fell 0.3% by 2125 GMT.
(Reporting by Rashmi Ashok in Bengaluru
Editing by Chris Reese)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.