WELLINGTON, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Australian shares are poised to have a strong start on Thursday, tracking a positive lead from Wall Street after gains in energy stocks, though caution ahead of the Federal Reserve's rate decision could cap gains.
The heavyweight natural resources sector should underpin the index after global miner BHP Billiton's U.S. ADRs BHP.N jumped around 3 percent.
Local share price index futures YAPcm1 rose 0.9 percent to 5,163, a 64.1-point premium to the close of the underlying S&P/ASX200 index on Wednesday. The benchmark bounced 1.6 percent higher in the last session.
New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index .NZ50 rose 0.12 percent to 5,674.9 points in early trade.
For 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