Updates to close

By Rajasik Mukherjee

Feb 27 (Reuters) - Australian shares snapped two sessions of declines on Thursday as miners rebounded after a three-day losing streak, while Qantas splurged on its first post-COVID dividend, sending shares higher.

The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO rose 0.3% to close at 8261.2. The benchmark had ended slightly lower on Wednesday.

"There were several good news stories on the corporate front today... a combination of earnings and corporate news provided momentum to the ASX today," said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade.

The mining stocks .AXMM, accounting for nearly 25% of the benchmark, rebounded from three sessions of losses to climb nearly 1%.

"Miners dramatically underperformed the market for a long time (especially against banks) and have only begun to catch up in recent months," said Luke Winchester, portfolio manager at Merewether Capital.

Sector majors BHP Group BHP.AX gained 0.6%, while its smaller peer Rio Tinto RIO.AX advanced 1.1%.

Rate-sensitive financials .AXFJ, which has lost more than 5% since the domestic central bank cut interest rates earlier this month, pared some of its earlier gains to trade flat.

National Australia Bank NAB.AX and Commonwealth Bank of Australia CBA.AX ended in the red, while ANZ Group ANZ.AX and Westpac WBC.AX gained 0.3% each.

Among individual stocks, flag carrier Qantas Airways QAN.AX added 0.5% as investors cheered the airline rewarding its shareholders with its first post-pandemic ordinary dividend.

Meanwhile, supermarket chain Coles Group COL.AX hit a record high after reporting a first-half profit in line with consensus and declaring the highest dividend in at least five years.

"There was some relief to see Coles deliver some positive numbers following the disappointing earnings from its competitor Woolworths," Waterer said, adding that the positive sentiment poured into the broader consumer sector .AXSJ, which rose 1.6%.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 added 0.7% to 12,540.87 points at the end of trade.

(Reporting by Rajasik Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy)

((Rajasik.Mukherjee@thomsonreuters.com))

For more information on DIARIES & DATA: U.S. earnings diary  RESF/US   Wall Street Week Ahead   .N/O Global Economy Week Ahead DATA/ ................................................................ For latest top breaking news across all markets          NEWS1