Stock index futures gained 19 points to 4,620.0, a premium of 12 points to Thursday's close. The S&P/ASX 200 index jumped 1.7 percent on Thursday, the biggest one-day percentage gain in seven months, as top banks and large miners jumped in the final trading hours of the financial year.

Heavyweight miner BHP Billiton is set to open 2 percent higher, as indicated by its US ADRs, helped by a rally in metals prices. The global miner also completed its planned $10 billion share buyback programme six months earlier than planned, raising hopes for a fresh capital return to shareholders.

Rare earths firm Lynas will be in focus as it returns from a trading halt. The company said "considerable" work must be done on its Malaysian plant to gain a pre-operating license but said it was confident that completion and commissioning of the plant will be achieved before the end of 2011.

Qantas Airways will also be in the frame after the Nikkei news agency said Japan Airlines Corp (JAL) will enter the low-cost market through a joint venture with Qantas unit Jetstar.

US stocks ended a volatile quarter with their biggest four-day rally since September as positive economic data and a temporary resolution of Greece's debt crisis indicated further gains in July. Midwest business activity showed surprising strength this month.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 1.25 percent and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 1.01 percent.

Copper ended up for a third straight day on Thursday, rallying to its highest in two months, as risk sentiment remained at a high after the safe passage of Greece's austerity plan. The three-day rally helped copper hold basically unchanged in the second quarter,

Investors will be watching for Chinese manufacturing PMI data later in the morning.

Copyright Reuters, 2011