News: BHP Australian shares jump on hopes of a pause in cenbank rate hikes

Dec 21 (Reuters) - Australian shares climbed on Wednesday, lifted by commodity stocks, after minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) latest meeting showed that the central bank considered pausing rate hikes.

The S&P/ASX 200 index (xjo) rose nearly 1% to 7,091.1 by 2325 GMT. The benchmark slipped to its lowest in more than a month on Tuesday.

The RBA considered leaving interest rates unchanged, citing uncertainty about the inflation and labour market's outlook amid worries around global economic growth.

Miners .AXMM and energy stocks .AXEJ added more than 1% each and were among the top gainers on the index.

Iron ore behemoth BHP (BHP) rose 1%, while oil and gas major Woodside Energy (WDS) jumped 1.9%.

Financials .AXFJ inched 0.3% higher, with the "Big Four" banks rising between 0.2% and 0.4%.

Tech stocks .AXIJ gained 1.3%, tracking some strength in its Wall Street peers, as a policy tweak by Japan's central bank rattled investors already worried about the economic fallout of rising interest rates and untameable inflation.

Strong bullion prices lifted gold stocks .AXGD by nearly 5%. The sub-index has posted its sharpest gains since Nov. 11.

Among individual stocks, TPG Telecom (TPG) fell 2.7% after Australian Competition & Consumer Commission rejected its network sharing agreement with Telstra Corp (TLS) , saying the deal would significantly weaken competition in the country.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index (nz50) rose 0.4% to 11,450.1 points. A survey showed consumer confidence in the country fell in December to its lowest level since the survey began in 2004 as rapid increases in the cost-of-living weigh.