* Rising oil prices buoy energy stocks
* Tech stocks gain up to 1.1% tracking Wall Street peers
By Niyati Shetty
July 23 (Reuters) - Australian shares climbed on Tuesday as investors anticipated major central banks will ease monetary policy, and higher oil prices buoyed energy stocks.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO rose 0.3%, or 20.3 points, to 6,711.50 by 0140 GMT. The benchmark lost 0.1% on Monday.
Global markets await key interest rate decisions by two major central banks, with the European Central Bank expected to cut by 10 basis points on Thursday, and the U.S. Federal Reserve expected to lower rates by at least 25-basis point a few days later. GLOB/MKTS
"Once the ECB starts to move dovish then the Fed will be forced to follow," said Mathan Somasundaram, market portfolio strategist at Blue Ocean Equities.
Humming along to the dovish tune, a top Reserve Bank of Australia official said on Tuesday that the central bank was ready to cut rates again "if needed". stocks .AXFJ gained despite the country's prudential watchdog proposing tighter terms for executive pay at financial firms, underlining a push for more scrutiny in the wake of a public inquiry on widespread misconduct in the sector. 'Big Four' banks rose between 0.1% and 0.7%, with Westpac Banking Corp WBC.AX and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group ANZ.AX each adding 0.2%.
Meanwhile, energy stocks .AXEJ were set to gain for a third straight session as oil prices rose on concerns over possible supply disruptions in the Middle East after Iran's seizure of a British tanker last week. O/R
Oil Search Ltd OSH.AX advanced 1.5%, while Santos STO.AX was up 0.4%.
Tech stocks .AXIJ rose as much as 1.1%, tracking Wall Street peers, as investors awaited corporate earning results from tech giants Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) this week. .N
WiseTech Global WTC.AX added 2.1%, while Australia-listed Xero Ltd XRO.AX gained 1.5%.
Iron ore miners Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) RIO.AX and Fortescue Metals Group FMG.AX each declined 0.6%, as prices of the material fell on Monday. IRONORE/
Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 rose marginally to 10,838.63.
Dairy products maker a2 Milk Company ATM.NZ advanced 1.4% and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corp FPH.NZ gained 0.9%.