May 4 (Reuters) - Australian shares traded higher on Tuesday on the back of gains from iron ore miners, further aided by wide expectations the central bank will keep its cash rate at a record low despite a solid economic recovery and a housing boom.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO rose as much as 0.25% to 7,046.30 as at 0030 GMT.
The Reserve Bank of Australia in a meeting later in the day is expected to hold its cash rate at a record low of 0.1%, a Reuters poll showed, even as a massive monetary stimulus and fiscal support has led to a speedier economic recovery and boosted the jobs market and consumer spending. miners .AXMM were the top boosts to the benchmark, jumping as much as 2%, with iron ore giants BHP Group BHP.AX and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) RIO.AX advancing 2.2% and 1.8%, respectively.
Among gold miners .AXGD , De Grey Mining DEG.AX and Pantoro PNR.AX were the top gainers, soaring 8.6% and 4.9%, respectively.
Energy index .AXEJ rose 1.5% after oil prices gained more than a percent overnight on signs of strong rebound in the United States and China. O/R
Among losers, technology stocks .AXIJ fell 0.78% after the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped half a percent overnight due to losses in blue-chip tech companies. .N
Aussie tech companies like WiseTech Global WTC.AX and Afterpay APT.AX slipped about 1.9% and 0.9%, respectively.
Banking stocks .AXFJ were down 0.3%, with Bank of Queensland BOQ.AX and Bendigo and Adelaide Bank BEN.AX leading the declines.
Three of the "Big Four" banks traded in red, while Westpac Banking Corp WBC.AX jumped as much as 0.7%, extending gains into a second day after it reported an over three-fold jump in its first-half cash earnings. New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 rose as much as 0.3% to 12,806.39, marking their fifth consecutive session of gains.
Top gainers were Mainfreight MFT.NZ , up 1.74%, followed by Genesis Energy GNE.NZ and Spark New Zealand SPK.NZ , which added about 1.5% each.