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MELBOURNE, May 17 (Reuters) - Australian shares 0.7 percent on Tuesday, stoked by steel, mining and energy stocks, with commodities benefiting from better risk appetite as oil prices hit six-month highs due to supply worries. S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO climbed to 5,395.90 points by the close of trade. The benchmark ended up 0.6 percent on Monday.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 climbed 0.9 percent, or 60.7 points, to 6,974.9 points, having marked a new record high at 6,988.38.
(Editing by Kim Coghill)