News: SYD Australian shares rise on Sydney Airport Holdings, energy stocks boost

Sept 13 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose on Monday as airport operator Sydney Airport Holdings surged after getting a sweetened takeover offer, with firmer energy stocks boosting the benchmark further.

The S&P/ASX 200 index (xjo) rose 0.3% to 7,427.60 by 0056 GMT.

Sydney Airport Holdings Pty (SYD) jumped more than 5% to be the top percentage gainer on the benchmark index. The company granted due diligence access to a consortium of infrastructure investors after the group raised its takeover proposal.

Aiding sentiment, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that Australia purchased an additional 1 million doses of Moderna's MRNA.O COVID-19 vaccine from the European Union, at a time when the country battles record-high cases.

The ASX 200 energy index .AXEJ rose 1.37%, led by Santos Ltd (STO) , up 2.15%, followed by Woodside Petroleum Ltd (WPL) , gaining 1.66%.

The sub-index tracked oil prices which climbed to a one-week high on concerns over U.S. supplies due to the damage from Hurricane Ida.

The mining index .AXMM rose 1.26%, led by Ioneer Ltd (INR) , up 5.3%. Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (LYC) followed suit with its 4.79% gain.

Nickel prices had jumped on Friday to their highest in more than seven years due to shortages created by a sharp rise in demand from stainless steel mills and electric vehicle battery makers and sliding stocks.

The gold index .AXGD rose 0.49%, while technology stocks .AXIJ fell 0.9% .

In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index (nz50) inched 0.15% higher to 13,083.3.

Elsewhere, Japan's Nikkei .N225 was down 0.28% at 30298.03 while S&P 500 E-minis futures EScv1 were up 12.25 points, or 0.27%.