Feb 25 (Reuters) - Australian shares were poised to open higher on Thursday following a strong lead from Wall Street overnight, with energy stocks also likely to support the local benchmark as crude prices hit 13-month highs.
The local share price index futures YAPcm1 rose 0.7%, a 6.8-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO close. The benchmark ended 0.9% lower on Wednesday.
Buy-now-pay-later giant Afterpay APT.AX is set to report its half-year results on Thursday.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 fell 0.6% to 12,205.6 points in early trade.