SYDNEY, May 11 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose to their highest in nine months on Wednesday, helped by solid gains in mining giant BHP Billiton (LON:BLT), while New Zealand stocks returned to record territory after recovering from a late April fall.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO was up 0.6 percent, or 32.8 points, at 5,375.6 by 0410 GMT. Earlier, it reached 5,425.2, a high last seen in August.
New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 rose by a similar magnitude to 6,953.9, having earlier hit an all-time high of 6,956.3.
The kiwi benchmark had reached successive record highs in April before taking a steep tumble. It has been slowly recovering since a trough on April 28.
Investors were also encouraged by Wall Street .SPX , which posted its best one-day gain in two months.
BHP Billiton BHP.AX climbed 3.6 percent after chief executive Andrew Mackenzie painted a bullish growth outlook at a conference in Miami. a note after his speech, UBS analysts said BHP is well positioned to "positively surprise" from cost savings and productivity. UBS said the benefits of BHP's February corporate restructure had been potentially underestimated by the market.
Also in favour, construction material supplier CSR CSR.AX jumped as much as 8.9 percent to its highest since August after posting a rise in profits. big four banks, however, were mixed with Australian and New Zealand Banking Group ANZ.AX slipping 0.8 percent while Westpac Banking Corp WBC.AX rising 0.5 percent.
In New Zealand, Metro Performance Glass MPG.NZ topped the leader board with a 4.0 percent rise, while Orion Health Group OHE.NZ put on 2.5 percent.
Only 12 stocks in the index were in negative territory.
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