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.