(Fixes literal in 4th paragraph)
* Aussie dlr hits weakest level against U.S. dlr in nearly a decade
* Mining and gold stocks rise heavily on weaker unit
* Healius jumps after receiving takeover bid from top shareholder
By Nikhil Nainan
Jan 3 (Reuters) - Australian shares jumped the most in a week on Thursday as a sharp drop in the local dollar spurred buying of export-oriented stocks, especially resource firms.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO climbed 1.3 percent, or 73.8 points to 5,631.60 by 0014 GMT. The benchmark closed 1.6 percent lower on Wednesday in its first trading session of 2019.
Sentiment was dampened on Wednesday after a Chinese manufacturing survey pointed to a further slowdown in the world's second-largest economy, which particularly affects Australia as China is its largest trading partner.
The Aussie dollar sank against its U.S. peer to as far as $0.6715 AUD=D3 at one point, the lowest in nearly a decade AUD/
"The Aussie dollar is falling sharply and the winner is the mining sector, and within that gold," said Damian Rooney, a director of equity sales at Argonaut.
Mining stocks .AXMM rose 1 percent, while gold stocks .AXGD surged as much as 2 percent to the highest since August 2016.
Pilbara Minerals PLS.AX was the top percentage gainer among miners, climbing as much as 14.4 percent. The lithium producer executed a memorandum of inderstanding with South Korean steelmaker POSCO 005490.KS . gold producers, Newcrest Mining NCM.AX and Evolution Mining EVN.AX boosted the sub-index, rising 2.5 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively.
Rooney added that despite the weak Chinese data, China is still a major and profitable market for Australian companies.
In the M&A space, healthcare company Healius Ltd HLS.AX , formerly known as Primary Health Care, jumped nearly 15 percent after receiving a A$2.02 billion ($1.41 billion) bid from its largest shareholder to buy it out. news sent its shares to their highest in two months, and biggest intra-day percentage gain since early 2016.
The benchmark's top constituents, financials .AXFJ , joined in the broader gains, rising 1.5 percent, supported by the Big Four banks.
On the other hand, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 fell 0.4 percent, or 32.88 points in its first trading session of the year, and was last at 8,778.39.
Shares of Kathmandu Holdings KMD.NZ dragged the index lower as it fell 12.1 percent after reporting a 1 percent drop in its same-store sale for 22 weeks ending Dec. 20, 2018. more individual stocks activity click on STXBZ ($1 = 1.4461 Australian dollars)