Jan 15 (Reuters) - Australian shares are expected to open higher on Monday, led by financials, taking their cue from Wall Street, which hit record highs on earnings optimism.
Wall Street continued its rally on Friday with record closing highs as the fourth-quarter earnings season kicked off with solid results from banks, and robust retail sales drove investor optimism about economic growth. The local share price index futures rose 0.5 percent, or 31 points to 6049, a 21.1-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index close. The benchmark closed marginally higher on Friday.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.2 percent in early trade.
For a summary of overnight action across global markets, double click on For a digest of the day's business stories in Australiannewspapers, double click on (Reporting by Christina Martin in Bengaluru)
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