May 16 (Reuters) - Australian shares were set to rise on Thursday as U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to delay tariffs on auto imports is expected to offset earlier pressure on equities from weak Chinese economic data.
Investor sentiment is seen to be lifted by U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's comment on Wednesday that he would likely travel to China soon to continue talks seeking a resolution on the bilateral trade war. local share price index futures YAPcm1 edged up 0.2%, a 16.8-point premium to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO close. The benchmark climbed 0.7% on Wednesday.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 rose 0.2% in early trade.