By Krishna V Kurup
March 28 (Reuters) - Australian shares clawed back lost ground on Tuesday, with financials and energy stocks outperforming the index, as investors shifted their focus back to the regional market.
Shares had fallen as much as 1 percent in the previous session taking cues from Wall Street's fall on Friday, with miners accounting for most of the losses. S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO gained 1 percent, or 56.10 points to 5,802.80 by 0052 GMT.
What's driving the market "is a more inward looking view on the Australian market," said James McGlew, executive director of corporate stock-broking at Argonaut adding that the market "doesn't necessarily have to get dragged along by what's happening on the Wall Street."
Financials led the gains, with the index .AXFJ rising 1.5 percent. The "Big Four" banks rose 1.4 percent to 1.8 percent.
On Friday, Commonwealth Bank of Australia CBA.AX and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group ANZ.AX hiked mortgage rates for speculative buyers as part of an intensifying campaign by regulators to hose down a heated housing market. National Australia Bank NAB.AX and Westpac Banking Corp WBC.AX made similar hikes, citing regulations, higher funding costs and intense competition. energy index .AXEJ rose as much as 1.3 percent to its highest in over a month, with Woodside Petroleum WPL.AX , Oil Search OSH.AX and Origin Energy ORG.AX rising 0.9 to 1.4 percent.
Material stocks .AXMM rose 0.7 percent with miners BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) BHP.AX , Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) RIO.AX and Fortescue Metals Group FMG.AX gaining between 1.1 to 1.4 percent.
"Material stocks are moving on the positive sentiment in the market," McGlew added.
Bucking the broader trend, gold stocks .AXGD fell 0.8 percent, even as gold prices rose more than 1 percent. GOL/
The gold index .AXGD had finished nearly 2 percent higher on Monday.
Gold miner Newcrest Mining NCM.AX , St Barbara SBM.AX and Northern Star Resources NST.AX fell between 0.7 percent to 3.5 percent.
Shares of department store giant Myer Holdings MYR.AX fell 3.6 percent, after it said it had not received any communication related to any corporate activity on Monday. Monday, the Australian Financial Review quoted sources as saying 10 percent of Myer's shares were bought by Australian businessman Solomon Lew at a premium. Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 declined marginally, with losses in telecom and real estate stocks erasing gains in healthcare and financial sectors.
Spark New Zealand SPK.NZ and Mercury NZ MCY.NZ dragged the index down, losing 1 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively.
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