Australian shares to open marginally higher, NZ falls

May 15 (Reuters) – Australian shares are likely to open marginally higher on Monday even as bearish investor sentiment strengthened further in global markets after a report showed US consumer sentiment slumped to a six-month low in May.

The local share price index futures rose 0.1%, a 17.3-point premium to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index  close. The benchmark rose 0.1% on Friday.

New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index  was down 0.4% in early trade.

(Reporting by John Biju in Bengaluru; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)