Major US indexes scaled to levels unseen before on Thursday, propelled by strong US private jobs numbers, while MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe broke a new record, last gaining 0.8 percent. Oil rose to its highest since May 2015, on concerns that unrest in Iran and another decline in US inventories could hit supply.

The local share price index futures rose 0.7 percent or 42 points to 6,066, a 11.1-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index close. The benchmark rose 0.1 percent on Thursday.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index was largely flat in early trade.