Benchmark rises for fifth consecutive day Finishes at highest...

	  Benchmark rises for fifth consecutive day 

	  Finishes at highest level since Oct. 18 

	  Westpac posts a 26% rise in annual profit 

	  RBA expected to hike rate by 25 bps - Reuters poll 

(Updates to close)

Australian shares closed higher Monday to hit highest level in over two weeks, aided by financial stocks with lender Westpac among top gainers, while investors awaited the central bank's monetary policy decision.

The S&P/ASX 200 index (xjo) ended the day up 0.3% at 6997.400 points, logging a fifth consecutive session of gains.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is expected to raise its key policy rate by 25 basis points to 4.35% on Tuesday, a Reuters poll found, after keeping borrowing costs steady in its last four meetings as inflation proves surprisingly strong.

Josh Gilbert, market analyst at eToro, predicted a 50% chance of a hike, saying investors are slightly uneasy "especially given the RBA has thrown a number of surprises this year, meaning a pause isn't completely out of the question."

Heavyweight financials .AXFJ drove gains in the benchmark, rising 0.4%, as one of the "Big Four" lenders Westpac Banking Corp (WBC) , posted a 26% rise in annual profit and announced a buyback, sending its shares up 2%.

Meanwhile, gold stocks .AXGD rose 3%, adding to gains. Shares of Northern Star Resources (NST) jumped 3.2%.

The technology index .AXIJ rose 0.15%, logging its fourth consecutive session of gains.

Bucking the trend, Energy stocks .AXEJ fell 1%, with sector majors Woodside Energy (WDS) and Santos (STO) falling 0.7% and 0.5%, respectively.

Superannuation fund AustralianSuper raised its stake in power producer Origin Energy (ORG) cementing its position as the largest shareholder while opposing Brookfield-EIG consortium's A$16.40 billion ($10.68 billion) buyout bid for Origin.

Shares of Origin closed 1.9% higher on Monday. New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index (nz50) rose 1.3% to finish the session at 11,261.2200, highest closing level since October 13.

($1 = 1.5359 Australian dollars)