Feb 16 (Reuters) -
Australian shares are set to inch higher on Thursday, with financial stocks poised to mirror the gains of their Wall Street peers.
Wall Street pushed further into record-high territory on Wednesday, as better than expected retail sales data for January kept sentiments upbeat. .N
The local share price index futures YAPcm1 fell 3 points to 5756.0, a 53-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO close. The benchmark index rose 0.9 percent on Wednesday.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 fell 0.2 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