* Australia stocks eye meagre weekly loss
* Tech index shines for 2nd straight session
By Shashwat Awasthi
Jan 15 (Reuters) - Australian shares advanced on Friday as investors anticipated a $1.9 trillion stimulus package from U.S. President-elect Joe Biden to kick-start the economy and speed up response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO rose 0.3% to 6,715.3 points by 2314 GMT, but was still on track for a small weekly loss.
Antipodean stocks had been bereft of clear direction this week as investors awaited details of the U.S. stimulus package, digested news of impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump and eyed upcoming corporate earnings.
Biden is set to propose a fresh spending package aimed at boosting the U.S. coronavirus vaccine program and providing more direct relief for U.S. households. stocks .AXIJ led the way on Australia's benchmark bourse as they added 1.2%. Buy-now-pay-later firm Afterpay APT.AX rose 3.9% and Altium ALU.AX gained 2.1%.
The mining sub-index .AXMM rose more than 1%, with Champion Iron CIA.AX adding 4.2% and Orocobre ORE.AX gaining 2.6%.
Shares of mining heavyweights BHP BHP.AX and Fortescue FMG.AX rose 2.9% and 1.7%, respectively.
Energy stocks .AXEJ were up 1.5% as oil prices firmed overnight on the back of a weak dollar and bullish signals from Chinese import data. O/R
Oil Search OSH.AX gained 3.1%, followed by Woodside Petroleum WPL.AX , up 2%.
Advances outnumbered decliners by 710 to 412, a 1.7-to-1 ratio. There were 83 new highs and 39 new lows.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 was roughly flat at 13,107.29 points. The index was poised to lose more than 3% for the week.