Feb 5 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose on Wednesday, tracking overnight Wall Street gains, led by local commodity stocks after the country's top trading partner China took a measured approach in responding to the new U.S. tariffs.

The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO rose 0.5% to 8,419.6, as of 0005 GMT. The benchmark ended 0.1% lower on Tuesday.

Overnight, the U.S. Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 0.30%, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.72% while Nasdaq .IXIC added 1.35%. .N

China imposed targeted tariffs on U.S. imports and put several companies, including Google, on notice for possible sanctions, in a measured response to U.S. President Donald Trump's levies, which came into effect on Tuesday.

It was unclear when the leaders of the two countries would talk after Trump said he was in no hurry.

A conversation between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump is seen as key to a potential easing or delay of tariffs, just like last-minute talks resulted in one-month reprieves on levies against Canada and Mexico.

Prospects of a trade war prompted investors to flock to safe-haven gold, boosting the metal's prices to an all-time high. GOL/

The domestic gold sub-index .AXGD jumped 1.3% to a more than three-month high.

The heavyweight mining index .AXMM added 1.7% to hit a two-week high. BHP Group BHP.AX and Rio Tinto RIO.AX gained 1.3% and 1.4%, respectively.

Energy stocks .AXEJ rose 1.9%, tracking a rebound in oil prices. Sector heavyweights Woodside Energy WDS.AX and Santos STO.AX advanced 1% and 1.7%, respectively.

Technology stocks .AXIJ rose 0.6% and real-estate stocks .AXRE added 0.5%.

Among individual stocks, Insignia Financial IFL.AX jumped 6.4% and was among the top gainers on the benchmark index. The wealth manager received an A$3.07 billion ($1.92 billion) bid from Canadian firm Brookfield BAM.TO, matching the latest offers from Bain Capital and CC Capital Partners.

In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 fell 0.5% to 12,839.6.

(Reporting by Himanshi Akhand in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)

((Himanshi.Akhand@thomsonreuters.com))

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