March 15 (Reuters) - Australian shares were expected to gain on Friday, as the resource-heavy bourse which houses global mining heavyweights such as BHP Group BHP.AX and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) RIO.AX could benefit from robust iron ore prices.
Benchmark iron ore futures in China climbed to their highest in more than a week on Thursday as steel mills continued to buy raw materials. IRONORE/
The local share price index futures YAPcm1 rose 0.3 percent, or 16 points, to 6,203, a 23.4-point premium to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO close. The benchmark finished 0.3 percent higher on Thursday.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 was unchanged in early trade.