Dec 17 (Reuters) - Australian shares ended its five-day losing streak on Tuesday as gains in banks outweighed losses by mining and energy stocks, while investors globally pondered over the outlook for U.S. policy easing beyond this week.
The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.2% to 8265.9 by 2335 GMT. The benchmark ended 0.6% lower on Monday.
Financials sub-index led the benchmark higher by advancing 0.4%, with shares of the "Big Four" banks up between 0.2% and 0.4%.
Meanwhile miners lost 0.5% on the back of declining metal prices.
Mining behemoths BHP Group , Rio Tinto and Fortescue lost between 0.4% and 1.1%.
Energy stocks shed 1.1% as oil prices slipped on consumer spending weakness in China, the world's largest oil importer, and as investors paused buying ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's interest rate decision.
Sector heavyweights Woodside and Santos were down 1.4% each.
The Federal Reserve meets on Wednesday and is expected to cut rates by 25 basis points to a new range of 4.25% to 4.50%. Investors would be keenly looking for any guidance on future easing, with futures implying just two rate cuts for all of 2025.
Domestic gold stocks fell by 0.3% with shares of Northern Star Resources and Genesis Minerals down 0.7% and 0.6%, respectively.
Technology stocks tracked their overseas peers higher, and were up 0.2%.
Shares of Wisetech Global , NEXTDC Ltd were up 0.5% each.
Among individual stocks, Australian oil and gas producer Karoon Energy fell as much as 7.5%, to record its worst day since Aug. 29, on cutting production outlook for its Baúna project in Brazil due to operational disruptions.
Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.1% to 12811.6 points.
(Reporting by Roshan Thomas in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)
((Roshan.Thomas@thomsonreuters.com))
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