* Australia shares rise for 9th straight day
* Longest winning streak since late January
* Gains led by banks, industrials, healthcare
* 159 shares up, 32 down, 9 unchanged
By Swati Pandey and Rebecca Howard
SYDNEY/WELLINGTON, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose again on Wednesday to a two-month high led by positive cues from Wall Street as investors cheered a lift in oil prices overnight.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO rose 0.7 percent, or 37.76 points to 5,305.10 by 0117 GMT. The benchmark climbed 1.15 percent in the previous session to touch a 1-month high.
This is the ninth consecutive day of gains for the index, its longest winning streak since late January. It is also on track for its best quarterly performance since the first quarter.
New Zealand joined the party with the NZX 50 index .NZ50 hitting a fresh record high on Wednesday. The benchmark has gained 13 percent so far this year in contrast to its Australian cousin, down nearly 2 percent.
"Market volatility will remain elevated through 2016 with macro remaining key," Baillieu Holst analyst Mathan Somasundaram said in a morning note.
"We continue to see yield trade being the dominant factor driving domestic investors as the central banks and slowing global economy will keep rates low for longer."
All sectors except miners rose on Wednesday. Major banks, including Westpac WBC.AX and National Australia Bank NAB.AX , were up more than 1 percent.
Other top performers include telecom giant Telstra TLS.AX and pharmaceutical company CSL CSL.AX , each adding 2.8 percent.
Shares of health food and wellness product producers surged as investors seek to lock in exposure to companies with leverage to Chinese demand for Australian foods. Bega Cheese BGA.AX rose 5.4 percent, health company Select Harvest SHV.AX climbed 2.82 percent and Australia Dairy Farms AFH.AX surged 75.8 percent.
Graincorp GNC.AX jumped 2.1 percent to A$8.63 a share after Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) put a price target of A$9.15 on the stock along with a "buy" rating.
Energy stocks such as Beach Energy BPT.AX , Karoon Gas KAR.AX and Liquefied Natural Gas LNG.AX added 2-6.3 percent. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N14J012
On the flip side, Slater & Gordon SGH.AX , already the worst performer on the index so far this year, continued its downward spiral, falling 2.3 percent on Wednesday.
Resources shares were downbeat as well with major miner BHP Billiton (L:BLT) BHP.AX slipping 0.94 percent and Rio Tinto (L:RIO) RIO.AX off 0.6 percent.
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New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.1 percent or 8 points to 6,300.29.
A2 Milk ATM.NZ continued its rally after its upbeat guidance earlier this month, adding 0.4 percent. The stock is the best performer on the index so far this year, up nearly 300 percent. The biggest gainer was Metlifecare MET.NZ , up 2.2 percent.
Sky TV SKT.NZ was down 1.7 percent.
(Editing by Sam Holmes)