Australian shares were set to open higher on Thursday on growing optimism that a COVID-19 vaccine may be available sooner than expected, offering hope of a quicker economic recovery.
U.S. drugmaker Pfizer <PFE.N> said its COVID-19 vaccine was 95% effective and the company would apply for emergency U.S. authorization within days, which could make the vaccine available as early as December.
The local share price index futures <YAPcm1> rose 0.3% or 18 points, an 11.9-point premium to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index <.AXJO> close. The benchmark rose 0.5% on Wednesday.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index <.NZ50> rose 0.3% by 2120 GMT.
(Reporting by Rashmi Ashok in Bengaluru; Editing by Howard Goller)
