Oct 6 (Reuters) - Australian shares were largely unchanged on Wednesday, as losses in blue-chip banks offset the rally in healthcare and technology stocks, following strong overnight gains on the Wall Street.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was marginally up at 7,248.2 by 0019 GMT, after rising as much as 0.4% to 7,279.4.
Overnight, U.S. stocks finished sharply higher, reclaiming some of the losses they had suffered in the prior session, after tech stocks rebounded as investors awaited monthly payrolls data later this week.
Australian technology stocks rose 2.2%, their best jump in two weeks. Buy-now-pay-later giant Afterpay Ltd advanced 4.5%, followed by Xero Ltd, gaining 2.4%.
Healthcare stocks climbed 1.9%. Heavyweights CSL Ltd and Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals Ltd were up 1.3% and 0.5% respectively.
Energy stocks jumped as much as 1.6% to their highest since Jan. 22 after oil prices jumped on Tuesday, with U.S. crude hitting its highest since 2014 and Brent futures climbing to a three-year high.
Santos Ltd, up 2.9%, led gains on the subindex, followed by Oil Search, jumping 2.5%.
Miners climbed 0.4% led by De Grey Mining Ltd , up 6.6%, followed by Australian Strategic Materials (Holdings) Ltd, gaining 6.1%.
On the other hand, financials fell 0.6%, weighing on the benchmark. Top losers in the index were Magellan Financial Group, down 4.5%, followed by Netwealth Group Ltd , slipping 1.9%.
In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index gained 0.2% to 13,230.1.
The country's central bank raised interest rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday, the first rate hike by the bank in seven years, in a widely expected move aimed at putting a lid on rising inflation and cooling its hot economy.
Elsewhere, S&P 500 E-minis futures were down 0.1%, while Japan's Nikkei was up 1.09%.
(Reporting by Aditya Munjuluru in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
