News: BHP Miners, banks push Australian shares higher ahead of Fed minutes

Australian shares were lifted by strength in miners and financials on Wednesday, with investors keenly awaiting minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest meeting to gauge the U.S. central bank's stance on future interest-rate hikes.

The S&P/ASX 200 index (xjo) rose 0.9% to 7,243 by 2359 GMT, with most indexes posting gains.

"The Fed's pause or slowing remains the macro focus," said Henry Jennings, a senior analyst and portfolio manager at Marcustoday Financial Newsletter, while referring to the Fed's minutes from the November meet due later in the day.

Markets have been solely focused on the minutes to get cues on the size of rate hikes in the future, with traders betting on a 50 basis points hike over 75 basis points.

However, Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Governor Philip Lowe on Tuesday flagged further hikes, saying that the RBA could return back to raising rates by 50 basis points.

Miners .AXMM topped the benchmark, jumping 1.6%, even as iron ore prices fell on demand concerns due to rising COVID-19 cases in top steelmaker China.

Fortescue Metals (FMG) , Rio Tinto (RIO) and BHP Group (BHP) gained between 1.2% and 1.8%.

Financials .AXFJ gained 0.7%, with the "Big Four" banks jumping between 0.7% and 1%.

Energy stocks .AXEJ added 1.9%, tracking crude oil prices higher after Saudi Arabia said OPEC+ was sticking with output cuts.

Woodside Energy (WDS) and Santos (STO) gained 2.1% and 1.5%, respectively.

Gold stocks .AXGD soared 2.2%, with Newcrest Mining (NCM) and Northern Star Resources (NST) climbing 2.5% and 2.3%

In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX50 index (nz50) fell 0.4% to 11,377.600.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand is expected to hike interest rates by 75 basis points in a meeting later in the day for the first time, according to a Reuters Poll.