July 19 (Reuters) - Australian shares on Friday are expected to open higher following their Wall Street peers after comments from a Federal Reserve policymaker raised hopes of an interest rate cut from the U.S. central bank later this month.
Fed policymakers cannot afford to keep their "powder dry" and wait for potential economic problems to materialize, New York Fed President John Williams (NYSE:WMB) said at a central banking conference. local share price index futures YAPcm1 rose 0.2%, or 16 points, to 6,594 points - a 55.1-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index's .AXJO close. The benchmark fell 0.4% on Thursday.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 dipped 0.03% in early trade.