Australia shares gain on hopes of swift passage for US stimulus; tech stocks slide

Australian shares rose on Tuesday, buoyed by hopes of a swift passage of a $1.9 trillion stimulus package by the US Congress, while tech stocks slid for the sixth straight session tracking overnight correction in Wall Street peers.

The S&P/ASX 200 index gained 0.8% to 6,791.3 by 2250 GMT. The benchmark ended 0.4% higher on Monday.

The US technology-related shares were sold off overnight that pushed the Nasdaq into a correction, falling more than 10% from its Feb. 12 record high.

Investors are awaiting a quick passage of President Joe Biden's coronavirus stimulus bill by the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives, as it would boost liquidity into the markets.

Australian tech stocks fell as much as 3.1% to a five-month low. Buy now, pay later firm Afterpay dropped as much as 8.7%, while Xero lost 4.8%.

Gold stocks fell 1.9% as higher yields pushed bullion prices to a nine-month low. Bellevue Gold gave up 5.2%, while Chalice Mining fell 3.9%.

On the other hand, financial stocks rose as much as 1.6%, with the "Big Four" banks gaining between 1.5% and 2.1%.

Perpetual Ltd advanced 3.4% and Macquarie Group gained 2.5% to become the top performers on the sub-index.

Fibre network owner Vocus Group jumped 8.6% to top the benchmark index after it agreed to a scheme implementation deed with Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA) and pension fund Aware Super.

Sentiment was also boosted after data showed that a measure of Australian business confidence rose to decade highs in February.

In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index was up 0.1% at 12,099.46.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday said the country will buy additional COVID-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech, which will be enough to vaccinate the whole country.