Australia shares set to rise, NZ opens higher

Australian shares were poised to open slightly higher on Wednesday, likely helped by surging commodity prices, although sentiment was expected to remain under pressure after a weak session on Wall Street overnight.

The local share price index futures was up 0.07%, a 31.3-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index close. The benchmark closed 0.8% lower on Tuesday.

New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose by 0.5% at 11,802.62 points by 2130 GMT.