By Shashwat Pradhan
Sept 16 (Reuters) - Australian shares pushed higher on Friday, driven by banking stocks, with weak U.S. data dimming the chances of an interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve next week.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO had jumped 1.1 percent, or 59.04 points, to 5,298.9 by 0210 GMT, recording its biggest intra-day percentage gain since July.
U.S. August retail sales fell more than expected amid weak purchases of automobiles and a range of other goods. The Commerce Department said retail sales dropped 0.3 percent after edging up 0.1 percent in July. (the climb in Australian markets) provides pretty clear evidence, if that was needed, that next week's central bank meetings, particularly the Fed meeting, are dominating the short-term market thinking," said Ric Spooner, chief market strategist at CMC Markets.
Investor sentiment also took a hit from other data on Thursday showing a drop in U.S. manufacturing output last month. Swiss National Bank and the Bank of England on Thursday held interest rates steady.
Financial stocks accounted for nearly half of the gains on the Australian benchmark. The 'Big Four' banks gained 1 percent to 1.5 percent in early trading.
Coal miner Whitehaven Coal WHC.AX was the biggest percentage gainer on the index, rising as much as 8.5 percent to hit a more than 3-year high.
Energy stocks .AXEJ rose more than 2 percent as oil prices climbed overnight O/R .
Oil explorer Woodside Petroleum WPL.AX jumped more than 1 percent, while Santos Ltd STO.AX snapped eight-straight sessions of losses to rise 5 percent.
Mining giant BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) BHP.AX extended gains to rise 1 percent and Fortescue Metals Group FMG.AX gained 2 percent.
Shares in Telstra Corporation Ltd TLS.AX , Australia's largest telecom company, advanced more than 1 percent.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 snapped six-straight sessions of losses to rise 0.8 percent, or 58.3 points, to 7,254.54.
Telecoms, industrials and utilities pushed the index higher.
Consumer confidence in New Zealand rose in September to its highest level since January, a survey showed. Entertainment Group SKC.NZ and Spark New Zealand Ltd SPK.NZ both advanced 2 percent.
Power generation company Meridian Energy Ltd MEL.NZ was among the top percentage gainers on the benchmark, climbing more than 3 percent to record its biggest intra-day percentage rise since June.
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