Aug 31 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose slightly for a second...

Aug 31 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose slightly for a second straight session on Tuesday, led by mining and technology stocks, although the gains were capped by weakness in heavyweight banking stocks.

The S&P/ASX 200 index (xjo) rose 0.1% to 7,510.3 by 0039 GMT, after having closed 0.2% higher on Monday.

Elsewhere, Japan's Nikkei .N225 fell 0.33%, while S&P 500 E-minis futures EScv1 were up 0.1%.

Domestic technology stocks .AXIJ tracked a strong finish on Wall Street overnight after sentiment there was lifted from last week's dovish comments from the U.S Federal Reserve.

Buy now, pay later giant Afterpay Ltd (APT) added 1.3%, while aerial imagery firm Nearmap Ltd (NEA) rose 1.9%.

A sub-index of miners .AXMM added 0.5%, with global miner Rio Tinto (RIO) and rival BHP Group Ltd (BHP) adding 0.4% and 0.3%, respectively.

Heavyweight financials .AXFJ dropped 0.5%, with all of the country's "Big Four" banks — Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) , National Australia Bank (NAB) , Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) and Westpac Banking Corp (WBC) — shedding between 0.2% and 0.4%.

Healthcare stocks .AXHJ gained on a jump of 1% in CSL Ltd (CSL) , the biggest company on the sub-index. Shares of the biotechnology company hit its highest since Nov. 25, 2020.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 cases in Australia continued to rise, with New South Wales — the epicentre of the country's current outbreak — declaring a record 1,290 new cases on Monday. Its premier Gladys Berejiklian said intensive care cases in the state will hit a peak in October.

In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index (nz50) was up 0.3% at 13,226.55, with healthcare and utility stocks leading gains in the region.

SKY Network Television Ltd (SKT) added 4.6% to hit its highest since April 19. The stock was also the top gainer on the benchmark index.