News: XIJ Mining, energy boost lift Australia shares by nearly 1%

July 22 (Reuters) - Australian shares climbed around 1% on Thursday, with BHP Group leading the charge among mining stocks after the global miner signed a nickel supply deal with U.S. electric carmaker Tesla.

The S&P/ASX 200 index (xjo) was up 0.7% at 7,360.3 just 30 minutes into trade, with energy stocks .AXEJ being the biggest gainers.

Wall Street ended higher for a second session, with investors switching focus to corporate earnings. Elsewhere, the Nikkei .N225 rose 0.6%.

Mining stocks .AXMM jumped 2.1%, with strong gains by Iluka Resources Ltd (ILU) and Coronado Global Resources Inc (CRN) .

BHP Group (BHP) jumped around 3% after it signed the deal with Tesla TSLA.O , and will work with the carmaker on lowering carbon emissions in the battery supply chain. Last month, Tesla had said it expects to spend more than $1 billion a year on battery raw materials from Australia given the country's reliable mining industry and responsible production practices.

Newcrest Mining (NCM) edged 0.2% higher after its flagship Cadia mine beat its annual gold production forecast.

Northern Star Resources (NST) added nearly 2% after the company announced sale of its Kundana operations in Western Australia to Evolution Mining Ltd (EVN) for A$400 million ($294.20 million).

Energy stocks .AXEJ climbed more than 2%, led by Santos Ltd (STO) , up 2.89%.

Santos advanced after the gas producer hiked the bottom-end of its annual production outlook and reported a 37% jump in quarterly revenue.

Financials .AXFJ advanced 0.8%, with all the "Big Four" banks trading in the black.

Technology stocks .AXIJ added 0.7%, led by Computershare Ltd (CPU) , up 2.95%, followed by Megaport Ltd (MP1) , gaining 2.53%.

In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index (nz50) rose 0.17% to 12,731.3.

The top percentage gainers on the benchmark were EBOS Group Ltd (EBO) , up 1.05%, followed by Heartland Group Holdings Ltd (HGH) , gaining 1%, and Investore Property Ltd (IPL) rising 0.99%.

($1 = 1.3596 Australian dollars)