March 3 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose on Monday, tracking gains in Wall Street, while investors awaited the minutes of the local central bank's latest policy meeting for interest rates cues.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO rose 0.5% to 8,209.5 points by 1151 GMT. The index fell 1.2% on Friday.
Stocks on Wall Street ended higher on Friday after a choppy trading session following a failed meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy. .N
The S&P 500 moved lower immediately after the clash between the two leaders before recovering and ending the day with a gain.
Investors await minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia's $(RBA)$ February monetary policy meeting, due on Tuesday, for clearer insight into the country's interest rate trajectory.
The central bank cut rates last month for the first time in more than four years, but warned it was cautious about the prospects of further easing.
All sectors were in the green, with heavyweight miners leading gains with a 0.5% rise. The world's largest listed miner BHP Group BHP.AX rose 0.4%.
Rio Tinto RIO.AX added 1.4%, after it said its East Intercourse Island facility at the Dampier iron ore export port in Western Australia had resumed operations after flooding from Tropical Cyclone Sean.
Financial stocks .AXFJ inched up 0.2%, with the 'big four' banks gaining between 0.5% and 0.7%.
Gold .AXGD and technology .AXIJ stocks rose 0.4% and 0.6%, respectively.
In corporate news, a filing showed that the Australian Securities Exchange suspended trading in Star Entertainment Group SGR.AX shares on Monday after the casino operator missed its first-half earnings report deadline last week.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 fell 0.7% to 12,513.57.
(Reporting by Adwitiya Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K)
((Adwitiya.Srivastava@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
Disclaimer: Investing carries risk. This is not financial advice. The above content should not be regarded as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation on acquiring or disposing of any financial products, any associated discussions, comments, or posts by author or other users should not be considered as such either. It is solely for general information purpose only, which does not consider your own investment objectives, financial situations or needs. TTM assumes no responsibility or warranty for the accuracy and completeness of the information, investors should do their own research and may seek professional advice before investing.