CANBERRA: Australian shares are poised to rise for fourth time this week on Friday, following Wall Street, with strong Chinese trade data for November expected to lift sentiment further.
China’s November exports rose unexpectedly by 0.1 percent from a year earlier, while imports expanded 6.7 percent on strong demand for commodities from coal to iron ore, official data showed on Thursday. The local share price index futures rose 0.3 percent, or 16 points, to 5,557, a 13.3 point premium to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index close. The benchmark closed 1.2 percent higher on Thursday and had risen 2.6 percent in last three sessions.