April 21 (Reuters) - Australian shares are expected to perk up on Friday, cheered by a rally on Wall Street and improving iron ore prices.
Nasdaq ended at a record high on solid corporate earnings led by credit card company American Express (NYSE:AXP) AXP.N .
Iron ore snapped a three-day rout and jumped 3.1 percent while oil prices ended mixed. O/R IRONORE/
The local share price index futures YAPcm1 edged up 30 points, or 0.5 percent, to 5,833, an 11.6-point premium to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO close. The benchmark gained 0.3 percent on Thursday.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 rose 0.1 percent, or 10.16 points to 7,198.21 in early trade.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ For a summary of overnight action across global markets, click on
AU/CALL For a digest of the day's business stories in Australian newspapers, click on
PRESS/AUB
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