Nov 19 (Reuters) - Australian shares were set to open higher on Thursday on growing optimism that a COVID-19 vaccine may be available sooner than expected, offering hope of a quicker economic recovery.
U.S. drugmaker Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) PFE.N said its COVID-19 vaccine was 95% effective and the company would apply for emergency U.S. authorization within days, which could make the vaccine available as early as December. local share price index futures YAPcm1 rose 0.3% or 18 points, an 11.9-point premium to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO close. The benchmark rose 0.5% on Wednesday.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 rose 0.3% by 2120 GMT.