* Miners end at over two-week high
* Labor Party's Anthony Albanese sworn in as Australia's
31st
prime minister
* Financial stocks top percentage losers
May 23 (Reuters) - Australian shares closed marginally
higher on Monday amid choppy trade, as mining and energy stocks
rose, while the Labor Party's Anthony Albanese was sworn in as
the prime minister after his party's victory in an election
after almost a decade.
The S&P/ASX 200 index ended 0.1% higher at 7,148.90,
after falling as much as 0.14% during the session.
Albanese was sworn in as the country's 31st prime minister
on Monday, as he vowed to tackle climate change and inequality.
The markets offered a muted reaction to the change, which
had already been flagged by opinion polls for weeks.
"Historically, it (the election) has not really been a
market moving event, and it's probably hard to associate the
movements today with the change in the government," said Steven
Daghlian, a market analyst at CommSec.
Daghlian said it is crucial to see whether the Labor Party
forms a majority government or is forced to form a coalition,
and it will probably be longer until any major policy decisions
start affecting the market.
Heavyweight mining stocks led the gains on the
benchmark, ending up 0.8% at 5,863.9 a more than two-week
high.
BHP Group, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals
Group climbed between 1.1% and 2.8%.
Iron ore futures rose about 7% in early trade after India
increased export duties on some commodities to rein in
broadening inflationary pressures.
Financial stocks fell 0.4% and were the biggest drag
to the benchmark. The "Big Four" banks slipped 0.1%-0.9%.
Meanwhile, analysts at RBC Capital Markets said in a note
that Labor Party's election win will keep pressure on the
Reserve Bank of Australia to continue to normalise policy and
move towards neutral sooner rather than later.
Looking ahead, Daghlian expects investors to focus overseas
for interesting drivers.
New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 index closed 0.4% higher at
11,316.46.
(Reporting by Himanshi Akhand in Bengaluru; editing by
Uttaresh.V)