June 23 - Australian shares look set to open higher on Friday, buoyed by modest rebound in oil prices, while healthcare stocks are likely get a boost from positive sentiment around the release of U.S. Senate Republicans' healthcare bill.
Gains are also likely to be lead by energy as oil prices rose on Thursday, a day after hitting 10-month lows. O/R
U.S. Senate leaders on Thursday unveiled a draft of legislation to replace Obamacare, which sent the S&P healthcare index .SPXHC up 1 percent. local share price index futures YAPcm1 rose 0.1 percent or 7 points to 5,650, a 56-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO close.
The benchmark closed 0.7 percent or 40.28 points higher to at 5,706.00 on Thursday.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 fell 0.2 percent in early trade.