By Soumyajit Saha
June 24 (Reuters) - Australian shares are likely to open higher on Wednesday, tracking a robust Wall Street as improving economic data renewed hopes of a quick recovery, while the possibility of further government stimulus also helped risk sentiment.
On Tuesday, data showed contraction in the U.S. manufacturing and services sectors slowed in June as the economy re-opened, while new home sales jumped 16.6% in May. local share price index futures YAPcm1 rose 0.2%, a 20.4-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO close. The benchmark ended 0.2% higher on Tuesday.
In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 fell 0.23% to 11,132.6 in early trade.