Miners and banks push Australia shares higher

Australian shares were buoyed on Thursday by the mining, banking and technology sectors, although losses in energy stocks following an overnight drop in crude prices capped the gains.

The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.5% to 7,033.2 by 0045 GMT, after shedding about 1% in the previous two sessions.

Among other markets, Japan's Nikkei rose 1.17%. S&P 500 E-minis futures were down 0.25%, while all three major US indexes finished higher overnight.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq added 1.2%, outshining the S&P 500 in percentage gain shortly before the closing bell.

In Australia, the top gainers were royalty investment firm Deterra Royalties, up 6.34%, and nickel-gold miner IGO , which rose about 3%.

Technology stocks were the top percentage gainers, advancing as much as 1.1%. Data analytics firm Nuix added 1.9%, while Megaport gained 1.3%.

Financials rose 0.6%, with all the Big Four lenders advancing between 0.4% and 0.8%.

Miners were up 0.7%, helped by BHP Group and Rio Tinto, which added about 0.9% each.

Energy stocks declined about 2%, with Oil Search and Woodside Petroleum shedding about 2.5% each, as oil prices fell to their lowest in a week overnight.

Australia's top independent gas producer, Woodside, saw its March-quarter production dip slightly from a year earlier, even as an 8% rise in sales volume led to a jump in sales revenue.

Meanwhile, AGL Energy hit record low after its chief executive officer resigned just less than a month after the power producer announced its plans to split its businesses into two.

Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.36% to 12,579.9, rebounding from two consecutive days of losses.

The top percentage gainers were Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and Synlait Milk, up as much as 2% each.