April 19 (Reuters) - Australian shares were expected to dip at open on Friday, tracking choppy Wall Street trading as investor sentiment is expected to remain depressed amid hawkish Federal Reserve comments which reinforced speculation that interest rates will remain higher for longer.
The local share price index futures YAPcm1 fell 0.7%, a 30.1-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index (xjo) close. The benchmark rose 0.5% on Thursday.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index (nz50) fell 0.4% to 11,792.25 points in early trade.
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