Australia shares seen recovering from steep slide

MELBOURNE: Australian stocks are likely to open higher on Tuesday after Wall Street recovered in late trade, helped by a report that Italy could get some financial backing from China, though weaker metals prices could cap gains.

* Stock index futures rose 1.0 percent to 4,081, a 42.5-point premium to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index . The S&P/ASX 200 index slumped 3.7 percent on Monday on worries about the euro zone debt crisis.

* New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index edged up 0.3 percent to 3,274 in early trade.

* Italy has asked China to make "significant" purchases of Italian debt, the Financial Times reported on its website on Monday. For details, see

* US stocks rose on Monday, bouncing back in late trading, as hopes that Italy could get financial support from China tempered investors' worst fears over the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis.

* The Dow Jones industrial average finished up 68.99 points, or 0.63 percent, at 11,061.12. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 8.04 points, or 0.70 percent.

* Copper ended down for a second straight day on Monday, dropping to its cheapest level in a month, as European debt worries escalated and demand prospects dimmed, undermining investor confidence in industrial metals.

Copyright Reuters, 2011