* U.S.-China trade-deal progress boosts sentiment
* Resource stocks rack up gains on firm oil and iron ore prices
* Sims Metal Management top loser, forecasts H1 loss
By Rashmi Ashok
Oct 28 (Reuters) - Australian shares notched gains on Monday, propelled by hopes that Washington and Beijing were close to finalising parts of a trade pact, while firm commodity prices gave an added fillip to resource stocks.
The U.S. Trade Representative's office and China's Commerce Ministry said officials of both nations are "close to finalising" some parts of a trade agreement after high-level telephone discussions on Friday, with talks set to continue. President Donald Trump has said he hopes to sign the deal with China's President Xi Jinping next month at a summit in Chile.
The trade news, along with robust earnings from Intel Corp INTC.O boosted investor sentiment, driving the S&P 500 index .SPX to a near record high on Friday.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO was up 0.3% or 20.40 points at 6,759.60, as of 0006 GMT, set for its sixth straight session of gains. The benchmark closed 0.7% firmer on Friday.
"A number of the risks that the market had been worried about are now dissipating," said Christopher Conway, senior financial adviser at advisory firm Marcus Today.
"The U.S.-China trade talks are looking more positive, the Fed is also largely expected to cut interest rates this week and the RBA is also expected to cut before the year-end. The U.S. corporate earnings have also not been as bad as expected."
Powering the benchmark, resource stocks notched up sharp gains to offset the lacklustre trade in financial stocks.
Miners .AXMM jumped 1% after Chinese iron-ore futures advanced on signs that demand remains firm. IRONORE/
Mining behemoth BHP Group Ltd BHP.AX tacked on as much as 1.4%, while rival Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) Ltd RIO.AX rose 1.5%.
World's No. 4 iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group FMG.AX added 1.6%.
Energy stocks .AXEJ advanced as expectations of supply cuts by OPEC and falling U.S. inventories propped up oil prices across the last week. O/R
Woodside Petroleum Ltd WPL.AX , the country's largest oil and gas company, traded marginally higher, while smaller rival Santos Ltd STO.AX rose nearly 1%.
Fuel refiner Viva Energy Group Ltd VEA.AX rose as much as 4.1% after posting a sharp increase in quarterly refining margins from the preceding quarter. quarterly results by Universal Coal PLC UNV.AX pushed the stock 4.6% higher, also driving up shares of other coal miners such as Whitehaven Coal WHC.AX and New Hope Corp NHC.AX .
Bucking the trend, metals and electronics recycler Sims Metal Management SGM.AX was the biggest loser in the index by a large margin, down 15.5% after forecasting an underlying core earnings loss for the first half due to weakness in scrap prices. New Zealand markets remained closed on account of Labour Day.