By Hanna Paul
Feb 14(Reuters) - Australian shares rose on Tuesday as commodity prices continued to rally, with the benchmark index heading for its sixth day of gains in what would be its longest winning streak in over 6 months.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO rose 0.4 percent, or 22.31 points, to 5,782.6 by 0110 GMT. The benchmark rose 0.7 percent on Monday.
"There's very positive sentiment in the market. Strong moves in the commodities market again overnight with iron ore futures moving up over $90 It's been a catalyst for the mining sector, including copper," said Gary Burton, a market analyst at IG Markets.
Material stocks accounted for most of the gains on the benchmark, with the ASX Metals and Mining index .AXMM up almost one percent on its third day of gains.
The world's second-largest miner Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) RIO.AX surged as much as 2.2 percent to its highest in nearly three years while iron ore giant Fortescue Metals FMG.AX touched its highest in over six years.
Iron ore futures surged nearly 7 percent to their highest in more than three years on Monday, following firmer steel prices. IRONORE/
Mining giant BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) BHP.AX extended gains to a third consecutive session, unfazed by a strike and shut down of its copper mine Escondida in Chile.
Copper prices rallied to touch their highest since May 2015, after shipments from the world's two biggest copper mines, Escondida mine and Grasberg mine, were disrupted. miner Western Areas WSA.AX rose as much as 3.4 percent at one point.
Financial stocks shuffled in narrow ranges with Australia and New Zealand Bank ANZ.AX leading gains, National Australia Bank NAB.AX flat and the other two banks from the "Big 4" leading losses.
The biggest bank by market cap, Commonwealth Bank of Australia CBA.AX is expected to report its half-year results on Wednesday.
The world's biggest listed stand-alone wine company Treasury Wine Estates TWE.AX dropped as much as 5.8 percent to touch its lowest one-day loss in seven months despite posting a record half-year profit. Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 edged up 0.4 percent, or 25.99 points, to 7,161.49 by 0113 GMT.
Telecom stocks led gains with Spark New Zealand SPK.NZ up 1.7 percent.
House prices in New Zealand's largest city of Auckland recovered in January, rising 2.4 percent after a 1.4 percent dip in December. Markets operator NZX Ltd NZX.NZ fell as much as 4.4 percent to its biggest one-day fall in 4 months, as net profit halved.