* Banks and resources shares support index (Adds analysis, quotes, stocks on the move)
By Pauline Askin and Gyles Beckford
SYDNEY/WELLINGTON, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose 1.3 percent on Wednesday, led by banks and resources, as investors looked for bargains after selling pushing the benchmark index to seven-month lows last week.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO rose 67.9 points to 5,371 by 0234 GMT.
The index fell 1.2 percent in the previous session on worries about China's slowing economy.
"Every major sector is posting gains. The financials, which were absolutely hammered yesterday, are really the stand-out performers today," said Chris Conway of the Australian Stock Report.
Solid gains in banks helped boost the index, with Westpac WBC.AX jumping 3.13 percent and National Australian Bank NAB.AX and Commonwealth Bank CBA.AX up 2.5 and 1.5 percent respectively.
The energy sector also fared well, with Santos STO.AX up 2.4 percent while Woodside Petroleum WPL.AX and Origin Energy ORG.AX rose 1.8 and 0.6 percent respectively.
"It's nice to see material and energy players up as well, two sectors that have also been beaten pretty bad recently, but they're having a good session today. They comprise a big part of the Australian market," Conway said.
Gaming machine manufacturer Ainsworth Game Technology Ltd AGI.AX climbed as much as 11 percent after broker firm Baillieu Holst raised its price target rating.
Treasury Wine Estates Ltd TWE.AX jumped as much as 12.3 percent to hit highest since May 2013.
The index is on track for a weekly gain after two weeks of losses.
New Zealand's benchmark NZX50 share index rose 0.7 percent to 5,751.41.
The market's top stock Fletcher Building FBU.NZ bounded 2.4 percent higher after it reported a 20 percent fall in its net profit on one-off costs, but met expectations for operating earnings and said it planned to sell an Australian asset.
Telecommunications company Spark SPK.NZ and Sky Network TV SKT.NZ both rose more than 2 percent ahead of results announcements on Friday.
The top-10 stocks index .NZ10 , which makes up more than half the main index, was 1.1 percent higher.
Meridian Energy MEL.NZ was 3.9 percent higher on a lift in annual profit and said it was looking to return spare cash to shareholders.
Among smaller, stocks kiwifruit grower and exporter Seeka SEK.NZ surged 7.8 percent on a strong lift in profit ID:nWNBS0184Z , while a jump in dairy prices helped to lift the Fonterra Shareholders Fund FSF.NZ and Synlait Milk SML.NZ .
(Editing by Kim Coghill)