SYDNEY, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Australian shares are set to open higher on Friday tracking a positive lead from Wall Street on dovish signals from the U.S. Federal Reserve's minutes from its September meeting.
Energy stocks are likely to underpin gains boosted by rising world oil prices.
BHP Billiton (LONDON:BLT) BHP.AX is poised to open about 3.0 percent higher after a 4.6 percent gain in its U.S. ADRs BHP.N
The local share price index futures YAPcm1 rose 1.2 percent or 62.0 points to 5,256.0, a 45.6-point premium to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO close.
The benchmark rose 0.2 percent to 5,210.4 on Thursday, its highest close since Sept. 9 and its fourth consecutive day of gains.
New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index .NZ50 gained 0.5 percent or 28.9 points to 5,654.7 in early trade.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ For a summary of overnight action across global markets, click on
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