Tech shares push Australia higher on Wall St cues, NZ rises

© Reuters.

* Tech stocks sees best day in over two weeks

* Afterpay adds up to 4.8%

* NZ bourse marks best session in a week

Sept 10 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose 1% on Thursday boosted by a rally in technology stocks, which tracked their U.S counterparts, and as the country's second most populous state of Victoria reported fewer coronavirus cases.

The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO rose 1.1% to 5,941.9 by 0030 GMT, recouping from a 2.2% drop on Wednesday.

Wall Street indexes snapped a three-session losing streak overnight as investors jumped back on the technology bandwagon, a day after the tech-heavy Nasdaq .IXIC confirmed correction territory. .N

That helped boost local tech stocks .AXIJ which jumped as much as 3.4% to mark their best intraday rise since Aug. 25.

Buy now pay later firm Afterpay Ltd APT.AX rose 4.8% and freight software company WiseTech Global WTC.AX gained 2.8% and were among the biggest boosts to the sector.

Adding to the upbeat mood, the coronavirus hot spot state of Victoria reported 51 new infections on Thursday, compared with 76 cases a day earlier. state has brought down its daily rise in cases to double digits in recent days due to a strict lockdown after it touched highs of more than 700 in early August.

Miners .AXMM were the biggest boost to the benchmark, rising 1.8% on the back of global miners like BHP Group BHP.AX and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) RIO.AX which advanced up to 1.6% and 1.8%, respectively.

Healthcare stocks .AXHJ added up to 1.7%, after losing 2% the day before, as hopes of getting a coronavirus vaccine by early next year remained despite a pause in British drugmaker AstraZeneca's AZN.L potential vaccine trials. the Tasman Sea, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 advanced 1.2% to 11,880.92 and is on track for its biggest intraday percentage rise since Sept. 3.

Blue chip firms were among the top gainers, with a2 Milk Co ATM.NZ adding 2.2% and electricity generator Meridian Energy MEL.NZ rising 1.9%.