Feb 13 (Reuters) - Australian shares are set to inch higher on Monday, mirroring Wall Street, with miners poised to rise due to strong gains in iron ore prices.
Chinese iron ore futures jumped nearly 8 percent on Friday to their highest in three years. They were buoyed by news that January imports surged in a sign of a sharp uptick in demand from steel mills as the world's second-biggest economy picked up steam. IRONORE/
The local share price index futures YAPcm1 rose 0.2 percent to 5,677, a 43.61-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO close. The benchmark closed up 1 percent to 5,720.61 points on Friday.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 rose 0.1 percent 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