News: NST Australian shares rise on tech, resources boost; Afterpay jumps

Jan 12 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose on Wednesday, boosted by technology stocks as Afterpay received an approval for its takeover, with a jump in resource-related shares on strong commodity prices offering support.

The S&P/ASX 200 index (xjo) advanced nearly 1% to 7,390.1 by 2357 GMT, with gains seen across sectors.

Buy now, pay later darling Afterpay Ltd (APT) added 6.8% to eye its best day since Dec. 22 after saying its $29 billion buyout by payments firm Block Inc SQ.N got a nod from the Bank of Spain, making the deal fully unconditional.

That lifted other technology stocks, lifting the sub-index .AXIJ 2.5%.

Gold shares .AXGD jumped over 2.7% in its best single-day jump since Dec. 17 after bullion prices climbed. The gold index was one of the best performers on the benchmark.

Gold miners Northern Star Resources Ltd (NST) added 3.9%, while Evolution Mining Ltd (EVN) climbed 4.4%.

Energy stocks .AXEJ rose as much as 2.2% to hit their highest level since Nov. 8, on the back of solid crude prices.

Miners .AXMM also climbed, about 1.8%, and were on track for their fourth straight day of gains and a near five-month high. Robust iron ore and metal prices boosted the sector.

Global mining giants BHP group (BHP) and Rio Tinto (RIO) rose 1.7% and 1.2%, respectively.

Lithium miner Liontown Resources Ltd (LTR) surged about 13% to be one of the top gainers on the benchmark after signing a supply deal with the battery unit of South Korea's LG Chem.

Banking and financial stocks .AXFJ were up 0.6%, with the "Big Four" banks gaining 0.6% to 0.7%.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index (nz50) traded up 0.1% to 12,847.87 points, with payments platform Pushpay Holdings Ltd (PPH) rising 4.1%.

In other markets, the tech-heavy Nasdaq .IXIC gained 1.4%, while the S&P 500 E-minis futures EScv1 were largely muted.