By Arundhati Dutta
April 28 (Reuters) - Australian shares edged higher on Wednesday as energy stocks rose tracking an uptick in oil prices, though losses in gold and technology capped gains.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO rose 0.11% to 7,041.5 points by 0027 GMT.
The top percentage gainer on the benchmark index was Ansell Ltd ANN.AX , rising 5.1% after projecting strong sales growth for the half year and full year. top percentage losers on the index were St Barbara Ltd SBM.AX , with a 7.6% fall, and JB Hi-Fi Ltd JBH.AX , losing 3.9%, as both companies reported disappointing earnings for the quarter. of Bingo Industries Ltd BIN.AX were the most traded by volume for the second day in a row, after it said on Tuesday it would be bought by funds managed by Macquarie Group for $1.8 billion. sectors, energy stocks .AXEJ rose 0.7%, tracking gains in oil prices. O/R
Viva Energy Group Ltd VEA.AX led gains with a 3.8% rise, building on Tuesday's gains after it said it expected $15 million in government aid for refinery in the first quarter. stocks .AXFJ rose 0.74% led by QBE Insurance Group Ltd QBE.AX , up 2.28%, followed by Virgin Money (LON:VM) UK PLC VUK.AX , gaining 2.03%.
Technology stocks .AXIJ fell 0.6% with Link Administration Holdings Ltd LNK.AX leading the losses with a 3.7% drop after a consortium including Carlyle Group CG.O and Pacific Equity Partners withdrew its bid for the company. .AXMM fell 1.23% while gold stocks .AXGD fell 2.28%. St Barbara Ltd was the top loser on both the indexes.
In other markets, Japan's Nikkei .N225 was down 0.11% at 28,958.98, while S&P 500 E-minis futures EScv1 were up 1.75 points, or 0.04%.
In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 rose 0.31% to 12,659.6. The top percentage losers on the index were SKY Network Television Ltd SKT.NZ , down 2.84%, and Oceania Healthcare Ltd OCA.NZ , losing 1.43%.