(Reuters) - Australian shares were set to open higher for a sixth straight session on Wednesday, with robust commodity prices seen lifting material and energy stocks, and as Wall Street extended its new year rally.
Wall Street's major indexes gained on continued optimism among investors ahead of quarterly earnings reports.
Meanwhile, U.S. crude climbed to three-year highs, boosted by OPEC-led production cuts and expectations that U.S. crude inventories have dropped for an eighth week.
The local share price index futures <YAPcm1> rose 0.4 percent, or 23 points, to 6,111, a 24.8-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index <.AXJO> close. The benchmark rose 0.1 to close at a 10-year high on Tuesday.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index <.NZ50> was slightly higher in early trade.
(Reporting by Chris Thomas in Bengaluru)
