(Reuters) - Australian shares rose on Thursday, buoyed by positive sentiment after January's trade surplus handsomely topped expectations.
The S&P/ASX 200 index <.AXJO> rose 0.69 percent, or 40.9 points, to 5,942.9 by the end of trade. The benchmark dropped 1 percent in the previous session.
Australia posted a seasonally adjusted trade surplus of A$1.06 billion ($828.6 million) in January, beating a Reuters forecast of A$300 million, and in sharp contrast to December's A$1.36 billion deficit.
Financial stocks <.AXFJ> spearheaded gains, ending 0.78 percent higher, with the 'Big Four' banks rising from 0.5 percent to 1.4 percent.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia <CBA.AX> was the biggest boost on the benchmark, ending up by 1.4 percent.
Biotherapeutics developer CSL <CSL.AX> ended 1.3 percent higher and online job portal Seek Ltd <SEK.AX> climbed about 3 percent.
Materials stocks were the only losers on S&P/ASX 200 <.AXJO>, with the metals and mining index <.AXMM> falling by 0.6 percent after the United States said it would slap heavy tariffs on imported steel and aluminium.
Shanghai rebar steel futures fell for a fifth session on Thursday to touch their lowest in almost two weeks. Shanghai Futures Exchange <SRBcv1> rebar futures were down 1.7 percent at 3,873 yuan ($612) a tonne by 0227 GMT
Iron ore prices on the Dalian Commodity Exchange <DCIOcv1> fell as far as 510.50 yuan per tonne, the lowest since Feb. 2
Mining heavyweight BHP Billiton <BHP.AX> was the biggest drag on the benchmark, falling for a second consecutive session and ending 2.04 percent lower.
South32 Ltd <S32.AX> followed, ending 1.57 percent lower.
Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index <.NZ50> rose 0.9 percent or 74.36 points to finish the session at 8,358.70.
Consumer staples led the gains with a2 Milk Company Ltd <ATM.NZ> ending nearly 5 percent higher.
Telecommunications operator Spark New Zealand Ltd <SPK.NZ> ended 1.62 percent higher.
(Reporting by Syed Saif Hussain Naqvi in Bengaluru; Editing by Eric Meijer)
