April 14 (Reuters) - Australian shares ticked higher on Wednesday as tech stocks tracked an overnight rally in their U.S. peers and miners advanced on robust commodity prices.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO rose 0.27% to 6,995.9 in early trade, after closing flat on Tuesday.
Overnight, the S&P 500 .SPX closed at a record high and the Nasdaq composite index jumped, as investors remained unfazed by the halt in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)'s COVID-19 vaccine rollout and strong U.S. inflation. .N
In Australia, technology stocks .AXIJ jumped 2.1%, led by a 3.2% rise in Nearmap Ltd NEA.AX and a 3.11% gain in NEXTDC Ltd NXT.AX .
Miners .AXMM climbed 0.6% as iron ore and copper prices ticked up on strong demand. IRONORE/ MET/L
Gold stocks .AXGD rose 2.2% as bullion prices bounced off a more than one-week low on Tuesday after data showed strong U.S. inflation. GOL/
Resolute Mining Ltd RSG.AX jumped 9.57%, while Auteco Minerals Ltd AUT.AX gained 5%.
Energy stocks .AXEJ fell 0.6%, despite oil prices settling higher overnight on strong Chinese import data. O/R
Beach Energy Ltd BPT.AX slipped 2.1%, while Oil Search Ltd OSH.AX lost 1.38%.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 climbed 0.27% ahead of a central bank meeting where it is expected to leave interest rates and its quantitative easing programme unchanged.