* Financial index hits over 2-week closing high
* Sezzle surges 42% on U.S. lending licence hopes
* Ingenia Communities falls as bushfires to hurt earnings (Updates to close)
By Niyati Shetty
Jan 7 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose on Tuesday, led by gains in financial and healthcare stocks, as an absence of a further escalation in U.S.-Iran tensions revived investor appetite for riskier assets.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO closed up 1.4%, or 90.70 points, to 6,826.40, after ending flat on Monday.
"In the instant gratification world we live in, a lack of immediate action by Iran has, in fact, seen the haven momentum wane overnight," Jeffrey Halley, a senior market analyst for Asia Pacific at OANDA, said in a note to clients.
Longtime foes Tehran and Washington have been in a war of words since Friday, when Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani was killed in a U.S. drone strike, prompting fears of a broader regional conflict. financials sub-index .AXFJ gained 1.5% to a more than two-week closing high, with the "Big Four" Australian banks jumping between 1.2% and 1.8%.
Third largest lender National Australia Bank Ltd NAB.AX added 1.4%, while Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd ANZ.AX rose 1.3%.
CSL Ltd CSL.AX ended up 2.4% as Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) said the drugmaker has the "most positive business momentum" in the healthcare sector .AXHJ for the year. firm Sezzle Inc SZL.AX surged 41.9%, after the U.S.-based firm appeared upbeat on expectations of a successful outcome for its lending licence application in California. the trend, the gold index .AXGD retreated 2.1% as a rest in Middle East tensions dented bullion prices and safe-haven appeal. GOL/
Gold miner Resolute Mining Ltd RSG.AX fell 3.9% and was the worst performer on the ASX benchmark, while Regis Resources RRL.AX lost 3.6%.
Property manager Ingenia Communities Group INA.AX declined 3.8% after it flagged lower fiscal 2020 earnings growth due to the impact of the Australian bushfires on tourism. neighbouring New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 ended little changed at 11,627.32.
Utilities firm Meridian Energy Ltd MEL.NZ gained 3%, while Auckland International Airport Ltd AIA.NZ lost 1.5%.