Australian shares rise on tech, resources boost; Afterpay jumps

Jan 12 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose on Wednesday, boosted by technology stocks as Afterpay received an approval for its takeover, with a jump in resource-related shares on strong commodity prices offering support.

The S&P/ASX 200 index (.AXJO) advanced nearly 1% to 7,390.1 by 2357 GMT, with gains seen across sectors.

Buy now, pay later darling Afterpay Ltd (APT.AX) added 6.8% to eye its best day since Dec. 22 after saying its $29 billion buyout by payments firm Block Inc (SQ.N) got a nod from the Bank of Spain, making the deal fully unconditional. read more

That lifted other technology stocks, lifting the sub-index (.AXIJ) 2.5%.

Gold shares (.AXGD) jumped over 2.7% in its best single-day jump since Dec. 17 after bullion prices climbed. The gold index was one of the best performers on the benchmark.

Gold miners Northern Star Resources Ltd (NST.AX) added 3.9%, while Evolution Mining Ltd (EVN.AX) climbed 4.4%.

Energy stocks (.AXEJ) rose as much as 2.2% to hit their highest level since Nov. 8, on the back of solid crude prices.

Miners (.AXMM) also climbed, about 1.8%, and were on track for their fourth straight day of gains and a near five-month high. Robust iron ore and metal prices boosted the sector.

Global mining giants BHP group (BHP.AX) and Rio Tinto (RIO.AX) rose 1.7% and 1.2%, respectively.

Lithium miner Liontown Resources Ltd (LTR.AX) surged about 13% to be one of the top gainers on the benchmark after signing a supply deal with the battery unit of South Korea's LG Chem.

Banking and financial stocks (.AXFJ) were up 0.6%, with the "Big Four" banks gaining 0.6% to 0.7%.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index (.NZ50) traded up 0.1% to 12,847.87 points, with payments platform Pushpay Holdings Ltd (PPH.NZ) rising 4.1%.

In other markets, the tech-heavy Nasdaq (.IXIC) gained 1.4%, while the S&P 500 E-minis futures were largely muted.

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