* Aussie shares reverse 4 losing sessions
* Gains driven largely by materials
* New Zealand shares snap 3 sessions of loss (Updates to close)
March 6 (Reuters) - Australian shares ended higher onTuesday as export-based stocks rallied on receding fears of aglobal trade war, while a strong lead from Wall Street furtherstrengthened sentiment.
U.S. stocks rallied on Monday as investors bet against aglobal trade war as U.S. President Donald Trump faced growingpressure from political and diplomatic allies as well as U.S.companies urging him to pull back from proposed steel andaluminium tariffs. MKTS/GLOB
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO rose 1.1 percent or 67.4points to 5,962.4 at the close of trade. The benchmark endeddown 0.6 percent on Monday.
Australia's central bank left its cash rate at 1.5 percenton Tuesday, a widely expected decision given policy makers havesignalled a steady outlook for some time to come. stocks led gains, with miner BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) BHP.AX giving the index its biggest boost. The stock ended more than 2percent higher, pushing up the index some 7 points.
The Australian materials index .AXMJ , which largelycomprises exporters of minerals and raw materials, ended 1.7percent higher.
Oil prices extended gains, underpinned by robust demandforecasts and as OPEC ministers hailed the strength of itsagreement with global producers to curb output in order tosupport the market. O/R
Financials took a cue from their Wall Street peers. Thefinance index ended 0.9 percent higher, tracking a 1.4 percentgain in U.S. Financials .SPSY overnight.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia's CBA.AX gains, thesector's biggest, pushed up the ASX 200 by around 4 points.
Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand shares snapped threestraight losing sessions, led mainly by healthcare and telecomstocks.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 rose 0.58 percent or 47.83 points to finish the session at 8,327.66 inbroad-based gains.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corp FPH.NZ ended about 1.1percent higher and was the biggest boost to the benchmark, whiletelecommunications provider Chorus CNU.NZ gained the most,ending 2.8 percent higher.