(Reuters) - Australian shares were likely to open higher on Thursday with heavyweight mining stocks set to gain on robust commodity prices, while strength in Wall Street was also expected to carry over.
The local share price index futures <YAPcm1> rose 0.5% or 33 points to 6,679.0, a 5.9-point premium/discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index <.AXJO> close, which ended flat on Wednesday.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index <.NZ50> was flat at the open.
(Reporting by Ambar Warrick in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra Maler)
