Australian shares are set to open higher on Monday, boosted by Wall Street gains from last week, and are on track for their biggest monthly gain ever by optimism over COVID-19 vaccines and economic recovery in the coming year.

The local share price index futures YAPcm1 was up 0.6% ahead of Monday's start, a 40.9-point premium to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO close. The benchmark fell 0.5% on Friday.

Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 rose 0.4% on Monday in early trade.

Reference by: Investing.com