* Energy stocks, financials lead gains; gold miners lag
* ASX trading volumes sharply below 30-day avg
* NZ50 hits record high, Meridian Energy top gainer
Dec 29 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose on Tuesday, notching broad-based gains after Wall Street stock indexes hit record highs overnight on the passage of a long-awaited U.S. pandemic aid bill, lifting sentiment and spurring hopes for an economic recovery.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO added 0.6% to 6,706.9 by 2347 GMT, with trading volumes less than a tenth of the 30-day average after a Christmas holiday-extended weekend. The benchmark had risen 0.3% on Dec. 24.
U.S. indexes got a boost from President Donald Trump's signing of the $2.3 trillion aid bill, restoring unemployment benefits to millions of Americans and averting a federal government shutdown. energy sub-index .AXEJ rose more than 1% despite a dip in oil prices, with sector heavyweight Woodside Petroleum Ltd WPL.AX adding 2.5% while the smaller Beach Energy Ltd BPT.AX rose 4%.
Financial stocks .AXFJ also rose, with the country's "Big Four" lenders adding between 0.8% and 1.4%. Investment managers Pendal Group PDL.AX and IOOF Holdings IFL.AX were among top performers for the session, up 1.5% and 1.1%, respectively.
Technology stocks also jumped, with buy-now-pay-later company Afterpay Ltd APT.AX gaining most among them with an 1.9% rise.
Healthcare stocks .AXHJ , which are favoured for their defensive nature during uncertain times, played laggard with a 0.2% rise. Biotechnology company CSL Ltd CSL.AX inched up 0.3%.
Gold stocks .AXGD bucked the trend to ease 0.6%, as investors shifted holdings out of safe-havens and towards riskier investments amid hopes of improving economic prospects. Sector heavyweight Newcrest Mining Ltd NCM.AX shed 0.9%.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 rose 0.9% to hit a record high at 13,152.39. Power producer Meridian Energy Ltd MEL.NZ was the session's top performer, adding more than 4%.