MELBOURNE, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Australian shares are set to open a touch higher on Tuesday, as did New Zealand shares, with results from heavyweights National Australia Bank and blood products maker CSL Ltd likely to steer the market.
Local share price index futures YAPcm1 gave mixed signals, rising 0.6 percent to 4,812.0 to sit at a 31.5-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO close. The benchmark rose 1.64 precent on Monday.
Rising iron ore and metals prices will support mining stocks, while continued talk of possible OPEC production cuts should support oil and gas stocks. O/R
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 rose 0.3 percent to 6,054.53 in early trade.
National Australia Bank NAB.AX , Australia's biggest lender, reported an 8 percent rise in first quarter unaudited cash profit to A$1.7 billion ($1.21 billion). CSL.AX reported a 4 percent rise in net profit to $719 million for the first half of the 2016 financial year, bolstered by strong sales growth in all of its plasma therapy product groups. a summary of overnight action across global markets, double click on AU/CALL
For a digest of the day's business stories in Australian newspapers, double click on PRESS/AUB