MELBOURNE, June 16 (Reuters) - Australian shares are set to open roughly unchanged on Thursday following five straight losing sessions, with miners to steady the market as the U.S. dollar weakened and gold prices rose after the Federal Reserve pared its economic growth forecasts for this year.
Local share price index futures YAPcm1 picked up 1 point to 5,158.0, which was a 10.9-point premium to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index (xjo) close. The benchmark fell 0.9 percent to a two-month low on Wednesday.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index (nz50) rose 0.4 percent to 6,896.1 in early trade.
Crown Resorts (CWN) will be in the frame after saying it may spin off its international business and some Australian properties into separate listed companies, seeking to protect the value of its local holdings from the impact of declines at Asian gambling hub Macau.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ For a summary of overnight action across global markets, clickon [AU/CALL] For a digest of the day's business stories in Australian newspapers, click on [PRESS/AUB]
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