Australian shares set for a soft open

SYDNEY, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Australian shares are likely to open lower on Thursday with a slide in oil prices and weakness in other commodities set to weigh on the resource sector. Pointing to a shaky start, share price index futures fell 1.0 percent to 5,225.0, a 33.3-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index. The benchmark eased 0.15 percent on Wednesday. New Zealand stocks were already feeling the heat with the benchmark NZX 50 index down 0.19 percent at 6,131.45 in the first