Australia shares finish above 5,000 points, but pare early gains

SYDNEY: Australian shares ended 0.6 percent up on Monday, driven by financial and resource stocks as sentiment was buoyed by China's interest rate reform and a government election win in Japan, but losses in other Asian indices pared early gains.

The S&P/ASX 200 index climbed 29.8 points to finish at 5,001.9 after hitting a two-month high earlier in the session. The benchmark fell 0.4 percent on Friday.

New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index rose 0.3 percent or 15.7 points to finish the session at 4,554.