SYDNEY/WELLINGTON, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Australian shares jumped as much as 2.3 percent on Thursday, touching their highest in over two weeks as a rally in oil and resource prices stoked demand for beaten-down miners, while an improving mood on risk lifted the banking sector.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO was up 94.2 points at 4,976.2 by 0225 GMT after hitting a high of 4,992.6, the highest since Feb. 3. The benchmark is now up about 6 percent since Feb. 10 when a couple of days of wild selling saw it hit a trough of 4,706.
The bounce came as oil prices surged over 7 percent, reacting in part to news Iran had welcomed plans by Russia and Saudi Arabia to cap crude oil production at January levels.
The gains spread across commodity markets and helped lift miner BHP Billiton (L:BLT) BHP.AX 6 percent to a six-week high. Santos STO.AX rose 7.4 percent and Woodside Petroleum WPL.AX 3.6 percent. The overall energy index put on 3.4 percent while basic materials gained 3.9 percent.
The better mood spread to financials which have suffered from a general air of risk aversion in recent weeks. Commonwealth Bank CBA.AX and ANZ ANZ.AX both gained 2.3 percent.
Strong earnings result lifted Sydney Airport Holdings SYD.AX 2.7 percent as traffic topped records in January. Treasury Wine Estates TWE.AX added 2 percent as its profits climbed 42 percent and sales to Asia doubled.
Wealth manager AMP AMP.AX put on 4.6 percent as its profit beat expectations.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 rose 0.5 percent or 31 points to 6,116.09 as investors were cheered by first-half results.
The biggest gainers were Steel & Tube STU.NZ , which rose 7.4 percent after it posted a strong rise in its net profit.
Spark SPK.NZ added 2.3 percent after reporting a higher half-year net profit on strong mobile and IT services revenue growth.
The biggest losers included Skellerup Holdings Ltd SKL.NZ , which was down 6.3 percent after reporting a slide in net profit largely on reduced demand due to low commodity prices.
A2 Milk ATM.NZ eased 1.9 percent on profit-taking after a huge rise on Wednesday.
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