Sept 15 (Reuters) - Australian shares edged higher on Thursday, lifted by energy stocks on strong commodity prices, while investors awaited the country's jobless rate.
The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.33% by 0021 GMT, after posting its biggest drop since mid-June on Wednesday. Investors pressed pause after a sharp sell-off in the previous session following red-hot U.S inflation data and the focus back home is now at its unemployment rate which is due to be released later in the day.
A Reuters poll expects unemployment rate to remain at 3.4% in August after it fell to it in July. The jobless rate had dropped to 3.4% in July, its lowest since August 1974.
Local energy stocks led the gains, climbing 2.5% on strong oil prices.
Sector majors Woodside Energy and Santos rose 3% and 1.7%, respectively.
Miners rose 0.3%, with BHP up 0.3%, while Rio Tinto fell 0.2%.
Gold stocks jumped 0.6%, with country's largest gold mining Newcrest Mining adding 0.3%.
Technology stocks advanced 0.4%, tracking subdued gains of its Wall Street peers, with software firm Brainchip climbing nearly 2% and leading the gains on the sub-index, while ASX-listed shares of Block Inc dropped 6.8%.
Financials added 0.7%, with the "Big Four" banks gaining 0.8%-1.5%.
New Zealand Oil and Gas rose 1.2% after it signed a one-year deal with Shell's Australian unit to deliver 0.64 petajoules of gas into the Australian east coast domestic market.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.1%, as the country's economy rebounded sharply last quarter after its gross domestic product rose 1.7% in June quarter.
(Reporting by Navya Mittal in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
