Australia shares advance for second-straight session as energy, tech lead gains

March 18 (Reuters) - Australian shares climbed for a second consecutive session on Tuesday, driven by strength in energy and technology stocks, as rising oil prices and a positive lead from Wall Street buoyed sentiment.

The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.6% to 7,904.2 points by 2335 GMT. The benchmark closed 0.8% higher on Monday.

On the local bourse, the energy sub-index added 1.5% as oil extended gains on escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and stronger Chinese economic data boosting demand expectations.

Sector majors Woodside Energy and Santos added 1.2% and 0.6% respectively.

The banking sub-index extended its gains after having snapped a nine-day losing streak on Monday. It was last trading 0.8% higher.

Australia's "Big Four" banks have lost around A$86 billion ($54.87 billion) since February 14. ANZ, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Westpac traded between 0.9% and 1% higher.

All three U.S. equity benchmarks lifted overnight after new data showed retail sales rebounded in February. Markets were also assessing U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff policies along with the economic data.

Back in Sydney, technology stocks emerged as one of the major gainers, trading 1.2% in the green. WiseTech Global, Megaport and local shares of Block gained 0.1%, 3.2% and 3.1% respectively.

The Australian mining sub-index was steady as losses due to lower iron ore prices were offset by a gain of more than 8% in New Hope Corporation after the coal miner reported a higher profit and improved its return to shareholders by announcing a higher dividend and a share buyback.

Iron-ore behemoths BHP Group and Fortescue fell between 0.1% and 0.8%. Rio Tinto was trading 0.1% higher.

Among individual stocks, shipbuilder Austal gained 6.3% after former suitor, Korean conglomerate Hanwha, picked a 9.9% stake in the firm.

Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.3%.

($1 = 1.5674 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Rishav Chatterjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)