Australian shares are set to open slightly lower on Thursday, tracking stocks on Wall Street that edged down overnight as investors awaited key US inflation data due later in the day.

The local share price index futures fell 0.04%, a 1.8-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index close.

The benchmark pulled back from record highs it hit during Wednesday's session to end 0.3% lower.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index was largely flat, up about 0.02% to 12,568.69 points in early trade.