Feb 23 (Reuters) - Australian shares are expected to gain at Friday's open, following a positive lead from Wall Street and higher oil prices.
U.S. stocks advanced on Thursday, buoyed by gains in industrial and energy shares. Meanwhile, oil prices rose to two-week highs on Thursday, boosted by data showing a surprise draw-down in U.S. crude inventories and also by a drop in the dollar.Brent crude gained 1.5 percent, to $66.38 a barrel, after touching its two-week high at $66.56.
Australian share price index futures rose 36 points, or 0.6 percent, to 5,950, a 0.9-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index close. The benchmark gained 0.1 percent on Thursday.
In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.4 percent in early trade, largely due to industrials and utilities.
The main index's biggest prop was Meridian Energy Ltd , which gained as much as 1.4 percent. It was the stock's biggest percentage gain in 10 days.
(Reporting by Aaron Saldanha in Bengaluru; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
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