May 21 (Reuters) - Australian shares were set to rise at open on Thursday on hopes of a speedy economic recovery from coronavirus-induced lockdowns after Wall Street clocked solid gains overnight, led by major tech stocks.
Adding to the cheer in markets, minutes from a recent policy meeting showed U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers reiterated their pledge to keep interest rates at near-zero levels until they were confident the economy was on track for a recovery. local share price index futures YAPcm1 rose 0.7%, a 31-point premium to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO close. The benchmark rose 0.24% on Wednesday.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 rose 0.3% by 2217 GMT.