Jan 17 (Reuters) - Australian shares are expected to open higher on Friday following a strong Wall Street lead and broader optimism fueled by the preliminary U.S.-China trade deal.
Markets will also likely focus on quarterly production figures from Anglo Australian miner Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) RIO.AX - the country's third largest firm by market value and a major iron ore player.
The local share price index futures YAPcm1 rose 0.5%, a 26.8-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO close. The benchmark ended 0.7% higher on Thursday.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 rose 0.3% to 11,770.54 in early trade.