Australia shares likely to track Wall Street higher on stimulus hopes

    Jan 7 (Reuters) - Australian shares are set to open higher
on Thursday, tracking robust performances by the Dow and the S&P
500 as bets on a democratic sweep in Georgia state reinforced
stimulus hopes, while stronger commodity prices will likely lend
further weight.
    The local share price index futures          rose 1.5%, a
34.9-point premium to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index        
close. The benchmark fell 1.1% on Wednesday.
    New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index         rose 0.9%
in early trade.
    

 (Reporting by Soumyajit Saha in Bengaluru; Editing by Lincoln
Feast.)