Dec 1 (Reuters) - Australian shares rallied on Thursday, tracking overnight Wall Street gains after the U.S. Federal Reserve chairman said the central bank could slow its pace of interest rate hikes as soon as December.

The S&P/ASX 200 index jumped 1.2% to 7,373.80 by 2358 GMT after closing 0.4% higher on Wednesday.

Wall Street ended sharply higher on Wednesday as Fed Chair Jerome Powell's comments were a relief for investors who had feared more hawkishness.

In Australia, miners jumped 2.5%, even as Dalian iron ore future closed lower overnight on data showing a contraction in China factory activity.

Index heavyweights Rio Tinto, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals Group gained between 2.2% and 2.8%.

Gold stocks soared 4.4%, making them the top percentage gainers on the bourse, as gold prices rose over Powell's comments.

Newcrest Mining and Northern Star Resources were up 4.3% and 5.3%, respectively.

Financials gained about 1%, with the "big four" banks up between 0.7% and 1%.

Health and tech stocks advanced 0.3% and 1.4%, respectively.

Energy was the only sector trading in negative territory, even as oil prices settled higher overnight on signs of tighter supply.

Woodside Energy dipped 1.2%, while Santos gained 0.7%.

In other news, Medibank Private Ltd, Australia's biggest health insurer, said it was aware that customer data stolen in a cybersecurity breach was released on the dark web overnight. Its shares were up 1.7%.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.6% to 11,623.25. (Reporting by Echha Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)