News: XEJ Australian shares rise on mining, energy boost; Rio Tinto slips

Oct 15 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose on Friday for a second straight session, helped by gains in mining and energy stocks on strong underlying commodity prices, while Rio Tinto slipped after cutting its 2021 iron ore shipments forecast.

The S&P/ASX 200 index (xjo) advanced 0.51% to 7,349.1 by 0031 GMT and was on track for a second straight weekly gain.

Miners .AXMM rose 1.33% after zinc prices jumped to a 14-year high overnight and copper, nickel and gold prices advanced.

BHP Group (BHP) climbed 2.7% after securing 83% support for a climate change roadmap, a much stronger outcome than predicted, while Fortescue Metals (FMG) rose 2.3%.

Rio Tinto (RIO) skidded up to 1.2% after downgrading its annual iron ore shipments forecast as a tighter labour market in Western Australia delayed the completion of a new greenfield mine.

Carrier Qantas Airways (QAN) rose up to 4.3% after agreeing an A$802 million ($595 million) deal to sell land near Sydney Airport to a consortium led by LOGOS Property Group to reduce debt.

Energy stocks .AXEJ rose 1.1%, tracking crude oil prices which rose 1% overnight after top oil producer Saudi Arabia dismissed calls for additional OPEC+ supply and the International Energy Agency said surging natural gas prices could boost demand for oil among power generators.

Heavyweight Whitehaven Coal Ltd (WHC) and Beach Energy Ltd (BPT) led the gains on the sub-index, climbing 2.17% and 1.4​% respectively.

Insurer Insurance Australia Group (IAG) fell as much as 3.5% after the securities regulator launched a civil penalty proceedings against a unit over its failure to pass on discounts worth A$60 million to nearly 600,000 customers.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index (nz50) slipped 0.07% to 13,038.8. Elsewhere, S&P 500 E-minis futures EScv1 were up 0.05%.

($1 = 1.3495 Australian dollars)