(Adds quotes, stocks on the move)
By Ian Chua and Swati Pandey
SYDNEY/WELLINGTON, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose for a second session on Wednesday as demand for bank stocks remained firm, while upbeat results sent CSR Ltd CSR.AX to the top of the leader board with double-digit gains.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO climbed 0.92 percent, or 48.38 points, to 5,287.60 by 0213 GMT, adding to Tuesday's 1.4 percent rise.
The "Big Four" banks were all in positive territory led by a 1.1 percent rise in Commonwealth Bank of Australia CBA.AX and Westpac Banking Corp WBC.AX . The sector is still in favour a day after Australia's central bank diclosed its explicit easing bias.
Biggest gainer CSR jumped as much as 14.4 percent after reporting a substantial lift in half-year net profit. The construction material supplier also declared a 35 percent increase in its interim dividend.
Retail sales data showing an expected 0.4 percent rise in September and an increase of 0.6 percent in the third quarter was met with little reaction.
"Today's data is unlikely to sway the RBA (reserve bank) in either direction in terms of interest rates," said Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy at AMP.
"However, with retail sales growth remaining relatively subdued and...surveys pointing to a possible pull back in business conditions last month, we remain of the view that another RBA rate cut is likely in the months ahead."
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index hit a fresh high of 6,061.83, scaling a second successive peak this week. The index is up nearly 9 percent this year, in sharp contrast to a 2.5 percent fall for Australia's benchmark.
Shares rallied on hopes of an interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand as early as December after disappointing third-quarter jobs data and another decline in global dairy prices.
The dairy sector generates more than 7 percent of New Zealand's gross domestic product.
Communications service provider Spark New Zealand SPK.NZ was the among the top losers on the index, down about 2 percent, after Morningstar downgraded the stock to "reduce" from "hold."
Air New Zealand AIR.NZ fell 1.4 percent on a rally in oil prices, which tends to push up jet fuel costs. O/R