April 5 (Reuters) - Australian shares were likely to

open lower on Friday as recent comments from U.S. Federal

Reserve officials raised doubts on the path of potential rate

cuts this year, while investors remained cautious ahead of a

U.S. jobs report.

The local share price index futures fell 0.8%, a

14.3-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index

close. The benchmark rose 0.5% on Thursday.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.3%

to 11,999.64 by 2121 GMT.