Australia shares seen cautious ahead of earnings results

Reuters

Australian shares are likely to open hesitantly after Wall Street edged higher but with investors scrutinising a string of earnings results due out on Thursday. * Local share price index futures rose 19 points to 5,625, a 9.6-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index close. The benchmark rose 10.8 points at close of trade on Wednesday * New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index fell 10.8 points to 5,129.5 in early trade. * U.S. stocks ended mostly higher after the Federal Reserve's July meeting boosted confidence amonong investors that the central bank is in no rush to raise interest rates. * Metals were mixed overnight with copper hitting a one-week high on robust U.S. housing data, while gold retreated after the dollar rallied. * The following companies will release results, ASX , Asciano, Treasury Wine Estates, Mirvac, MMG Ltd, Alumina Ltd, Origin Energy, SAI Global. ----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2326 GMT ------------ INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG S&P 500 1986.51 0.25% 4.910 USD/JPY 103.67 -0.06% -0.060 10-YR US TSY YLD 2.4281 -- 0.000 SPOT GOLD 1289.76 -0.17% -2.180 US CRUDE 93.61 0.17% 0.160 DOW JONES 16979.13 0.35% 59.54 ASIA ADRS 154.34 -0.19% -0.29 ------------------------------------------------------------- * Dow, S&P500 rise after Fed minutes reassure on rates * Crude jumps ahead of expiry, inventory drop supports * Gold falls as dollar jumps after Fed minutes * Copper at week-high on robust U.S. housing dat For a digest of the day's business stories in Australian newspapers, double click on