Australian shares set to open week higher after Wall Street gains, NZ up

Australian shares are likely to start the week marginally higher on Monday, following Friday's gains on Wall Street after the world's largest footwear maker Nike Inc beat fourth quarter profit estimates.

All three of Wall Street's major stock indexes strengthened on Friday, gaining in the range of 0.08 percent to 0.23 percent.

The Australian local share price index futures rose 0.37 percent, or 23 points, to 6,171, a 23.6 point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index close. The benchmark fell 0.3 percent on Friday.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.2 percent in early trade.