(Reuters) - Australian shares are expected to rise for a sixth straight session on Friday, led by higher oil prices, on the back of a drop on Wall Street.
Brent crude futures <LCOc1> rose 26 cents to settle at $73.62 a barrel, a 0.35 percent gain, boosted by OPEC production cuts and the potential for new U.S. sanctions against Iran. [O/R]
The local share price index futures <YAPcm1> rose by 12 points to 6,092, a 6.3-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index <.AXJO> close. The benchmark rose 0.8 percent on Thursday
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index <.NZ50> rose by 5.31 points to 8,552.190 in early trade.
(Reporting by Syed Saif Hussain Naqvi in Bengaluru; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
