Australian shares extended their rally to hit a near 10-year...

Australian shares extended their rally to hit a near 10-year high on Thursday, underscored by gains in material stocks and as investors bought on technical signals.

The S&P/ASX 200 index (xjo) was up 0.2 percent, or 13.44 points to 6,029.70 by 0034 GMT. The benchmark closed up 0.03 percent on Wednesday.

The index rose as much as 0.4 percent in early trading, bringing 2017's gains to more than 6 percent after the S&P/ASX 200 breached the critical 6,000 level on Tuesday.

"We've manage to maintain ground above it (the 6,000 level) and that's giving a technical signal to investors that the index is moving into a new higher range," said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets.

Materials were the best performing sector with mining stocks .AXMM gaining as much as 0.9 percent to touch their highest since Feb. 2014.

LME benchmark copper CMCU3 rose 0.4 percent to end at $6,855 a tonne on Wednesday, while LME zinc CMZN3 gained 0.8 percent to finish at $3,192 a tonne. [MET/L]

Mining giants BHP Billiton Ltd (BHP) and Rio Tinto Ltd (RIO) were trading 0.7 percent firmer.

The financial index .AXFJ was down marginally as National Australia Bank (NAB), one of the "Big Four" banks, traded ex-dividend on the day, falling as much as 3.9 percent.

"If NAB wasn't ex-dividend, the index would be 10 points higher and the financial sector will be up there leading the market as well," McCarthy of CMC Markets said.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) rose as much as 0.8 percent, a day after its quarterly results beat expectations.

In other stocks, building materials producer James Hardie Industries Plc (JHX) was among the top gainers on the benchmark index, adding as much as 7.4 percent, after it reported higher quarterly sales.

Shares of oil and gas producer Santos Ltd (STO) fell more than 4 percent after said it aimed to cut its debt to $2 billion by 2019.

The Australian gold index .AXGD rose 0.3 percent when gold held its ground after marking a near three-week high in the previous session. [GOL/]

Gold producer Alkane Resources Ltd (ALK) drove the gains, advancing as much as 6.3 percent.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index (nz50) fell 0.5 percent, or 36.83 points to 8,004.19 after the central bank stood pat on interest rates.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand said added fiscal stimulus and a lower local dollar would lead to faster inflation and likely to an earlier rise in interest rates, sending the currency sharply higher.

The index was on track to post its fifth consecutive session of losses, dragged by technology and healthcare stocks.

Accounting software firm Xero (XRO) lost as much as 6.4 percent, after it announcing it would delist from the New Zealand stock exchange.