SYDNEY/WELLINGTON, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Australian shares rebounded on Thursday as a surge in oil and other commodities brought relief to hard-hit resource companies and helped recoup a little of the week's heavy losses.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO was up 70.0 points, or 1.4 percent, to 4,946.8 at the midsession.
Gains were led by BHP Billiton (L:BLT) Ltd BHP.AX and Rio Tinto (L:RIO) Ltd RIO.AX which lifted the ASX 300 Metals & Mining Index .AXMM over 6 percent.
The S&P/ASX 200 Energy index .AXEJ added 3.8 percent after Wednesday's 8 percent surge in oil prices boosted producers such as Santos Ltd STO.AX .
Crude oil futures extended their gains on Thursday courtesy of a weaker U.S. dollar and unconfirmed talk of producers potentially meeting to discuss output cuts.
The bounce spread to the major banks which were all up between 1 and 2 percent after some heavy losses recently.
Not so lucky was investment bank Macquarie Group Ltd MQG.AX which shed 6 percent after reporting a fall in December quarter net profit. under pressure was medical supplies maker Ansell Ltd ANN.AX which slid 18 percent to its lowest in almost 3 years after issuing a profit warning.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 was relatively unchanged Thursday, lifting 5 points to 6.138.68.
The biggest gainers were Nuplex NPX.NZ , which rose 3.7 percent and A2 Milk ATM.NZ , up 3.5 percent. The biggest losers were Z Energy ZEL.NZ , down 1.7 percent.
Sentiment improved after U.S. stocks rallied late Wednesday but trading was fairly tepid with most investors now waiting for company earnings to provide direction.
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