Australian shares rise on miners' gains; market eyes May rate cut

By Shivangi Lahiri

April 17 (Reuters) - Australian shares ended higher on Thursday as miners drove gains on stronger underlying commodity prices, while domestic rate cut wagers were undeterred by a rebound in local jobs.

The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO rose 0.7% to close at 7,813 points. The benchmark index rebounded from a two-week losing streak sparked by U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs, closing the holiday-shortened week 1.4% higher.

Miners .AXMM gained 1.5%, lifting the benchmark, as iron ore prices climbed on robust near-term demand. IRONORE/

Among the major miners, BHP BHP.AX rose 1.2%, even as third-quarter iron ore production from Western Australia operations eased to 67.8 million tons from year-ago 68.1 million tons.

Peers Rio Tinto RIO.AX and Fortescue FMG.AX climbed 2.5% and 0.5%, respectively.

Markets have fully priced in a 25-basis-points rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) in May, despite a rebound in Australian jobs in March.

Citi analysts expect a favourable first-quarter consumer price index (CPI) print at the end of April to imply a cut when the RBA meets on May 19-20.

"Given the downside risks to global growth and softer near-term inflation profile, we expect the RBA to look past today's firm jobs data and cut rates," added Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG.

Energy stocks .AXEJ rose 3.6%, tracking higher oil prices on concerns of tighter supply. O/R

Santos STO.AX rose 3.1% as it looked to potentially bring forward the startup for its Pikka phase 1 operations in Alaska.

Meanwhile, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 advanced 0.4% to end the session at 12,118.99 points.

The country's consumer prices rose faster than expected in the first quarter, though investors still expect further rate cuts as the grimmer outlook for the world economy remained an overhang.

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