Australian shares are slated to open lower on Friday ahead of key retail sales data and despite tech-led gains on Wall Street.

On the macroeconomic front, Australia's retail sales and producer price index for March will be released at 11:30 am Sydney time.

Overnight, the Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.5% and the S&P 500 rose 0.6%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed.

Tech titans Microsoft and Meta climbed 7.6% and 4.2%, respectively, buoyed by upbeat earnings results. Apple, which released its results after the closing bell, also topped market expectations with record revenue and higher earnings.

In Australian corporate news, Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) shareholders rejected activist hedge fund Palliser Capital's call for an independent review of the company's dual-listed structure, according to a Thursday filing with the Australian bourse.

Capstone Copper Corp. (ASX:CSC) reported on Friday a first-quarter adjusted net income of $0.01 per diluted share, compared with an adjusted loss of $0.01 a year earlier. Revenue rose to $533.3 million from $339.9 million.

Australia's benchmark equity index finished muted at 8,145.60 on Thursday.