Banks and tech stocks lead gains All eyes on RBA meeting on...

	  Banks and tech stocks lead gains 

	  All eyes on RBA meeting on Tuesday 

	  AXJO tracks Wall Street's bumper Friday 

(Updates to close)

Australian shares ended higher on Monday, with banks and tech stocks leading the gains, while investors remained watchful of the local central bank's rate decision later in the week.

The S&P/ASX 200 index (xjo) rose 0.6% to end the session at 7,328.6. The benchmark lost 0.3% last week.

Aussie banks .AXFJ led gains on the benchmark as the sub-index advanced 1.2%. The so-called "Big Four" banks added between 0.8% and 1.7%.

Investors await a key central bank decision on Tuesday to gauge the future path of interest rate hikes in the country. A Reuters poll estimates that the Reserve Bank of Australia will lift its interest rate by another quarter point, followed by one more hike in the upcoming quarter.

"I'm expecting a 25 bps hike tomorrow with still hawkish commentary despite softening data. The RBA wants to keep the language hawkish," said Matthew Haupt, lead portfolio manager at Wilson Asset Management.

Technology stocks .AXIJ tracked Wall Street, rising 1.8%. ASX shares of sector major Block Inc (SQ2) and Xero (XRO) ended the day 5.5% and 3.6% higher, respectively.

Wall Street rallied on Friday with Dow's first weekly gain since late January as U.S. Treasury yields eased and economic data lifted investor sentiment.

Commodity stocks capped the rally in Australia with miners .AXMM ending the day 0.4% lower. Iron ore giants Rio Tinto (RIO) and Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) traded in the red.

"Miners are selling off due to disappointment of China's NPC meetings over the weekend as investors were hoping for more explicit guidance on stimulus and fiscal spending," Wilson Asset's Haupt said.

Energy stocks also weighed on the index with oil prices opening the day lower. Sector heavyweights Woodside (WDS) and Santos (STO) ended the day 1.2% and 0.7% lower.

Among individual stocks, software solutions company BrainChip (BRN) was the top gainer on ASX 200 after launching a new AI platform.

Lynas Rare Earths (LYC) emerged as the top loser after Tesla said its next generation EV would not use rare earth metals.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index (nz50) rose 0.4% to finish session at 11,912.5 points.