March 6 (Reuters) - Australian shares were set to open higher on Monday, with financials likely to follow a strong lead by their peers on Wall Street after the U.S. Federal Reserve signalled there could be an interest rate hike this month.
The local share price index futures YAPcm1 were up 0.4 percent or 21 points. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO fell 0.8 percent on Friday.
Banks benefit from rising interest rates and U.S. financial stocks rose on Wall Street on Friday after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen indicated the Fed was set to raise rates at its meeting on March 14-15 if employment and other economic data hold up. .N listed shares of large-cap miners BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) BHP.N and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) Ltd RIO.N closed higher on Friday.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 was flat at 7164.14 in early trade.
Shares of markets operator NZX Ltd NZX.NZ were down 0.9 percent after it reported a decline in total trades for cash markets in February. 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