* Shipping rates rise, tankers diverted due to blockage
* Miners jump nearly 2%, eye biggest gain since March 12
* Tech stocks drop, Afterpay falls nearly 3%
By Aditya Munjuluru
March 29 (Reuters) - Australian shares edged up on Monday, as higher commodity prices lifted miners and energy stocks on worries that global supplies of crude and refined products could be disrupted for weeks as workers try to dislodge a container blocking the Suez Canal.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO was up 0.1% at 6,830.40 by 0015 GMT. The benchmark closed 0.5% higher on Friday.
Also lifting risk appetite was a report on Monday that showed the country is expecting to log a record A$136 billion ($103.85 billion) from iron ore exports this financial year in signs of a global steelmaking recovery from the pandemic-led downturn. prices rose in the previous session as markets worried about the cost repercussions for transporting industrial metals following the Suez Canal blockage. mining sub-index .AXMM jumped nearly 2% in its biggest intraday percentage gain in more than two weeks. Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) RIO.AX and BHP Group BHP.AX , which have significant copper mining operations, rose as much as 2% and 2.3%, respectively.
Energy stocks .AXEJ rose 1.4% as oil prices spiked on worries over Suez Canal. Sector heavyweight Woodside Petroleum WPL.AX added nearly 1% while Santos STO.AX advanced 2.3%.
Sentiment was subdued across Asia with Nikkei futures NKc1 dropping 0.5% to 29,295 points, while S&P 500 E-minis futures EScv1 were down 0.4%.
Technology stocks .AXIJ curbed gains in the index, with top percentage losers Megaport MP1.AX dropping 3.4%, followed by buy-now-pay-later giant Afterpay APT.AX , which slipped 2.8%.
Treasury Wine Estates TWE.AX slumped 3.8% after the company said it would face steep anti-dumping tariffs for its Australian wine exports to China. New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 rose 0.58% to 12,420.3, with Meridian Energy MEL.NZ rising 3.5%.
Synlait Milk SML.NZ was the biggest loser, down as much as 4.2% after the dairy firm posted a 76% plunge in first-half profit and flagged headwinds in fiscal 2021. = 1.3096 Australian dollars)