Australian shares rise 1% as financials, miners rally

May 8 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose on Monday, buoyed by domestic miners and financial stocks, as investors hoped for an easing in pace of interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve. The S&P/ASX 200 index rose as much as 1% to 7,292.4 by 0028 GMT, eyeing its best day in nearly four weeks. The index also touched a 1-week high. Heavyweight financials led the rally after the country's third-largest lender Westpac Banking Corp advanced 3.2% to rise most in four months after posting a 22% jump in its first-half net profit.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia , ANZ Group Holdings and Westpac Banking Corp added between 2.5% and 5%, respectively.

Strong U.S. jobs data for April, which showed 253,000 new jobs in April as compared with 165,000 in March, brightened the economic outlook, while expectations rose that the Federal Reserve could ease after a long spate of rate hikes. Miners gained 1.5%, touching a two-week high. Mining trio BHP Ltd , Rio Tinto , and Fortescue Metals jumped between 1.2% and 2.5%, respectively.

Lynas Rare Earths Ltd surged as much as 12.4% to gain the most in over two years after it said its operating license in Malaysia to import and process rare earths is now valid until Jan. 1 next year.

Energy stocks added 2%, with oil and gas majors Woodside Energy and Santos climbing 3.1% and 2%, respectively.

Across the Tasman sea, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.2% to 11,917.56 points. Shares in Tower Ltd dipped as much as 6.50% after the general insurer cut its full-year profit forecast on the back of increasing insurance claims and costs. (Reporting by Roushni Nair in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh Venkateshwaran)

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Australian shares rise 1% as financials, miners rally

By Reuters

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