May 18 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose for a third straight session on Tuesday, as the resource heavy index benefited from higher iron ore and gold prices, though subdued tech stocks capped further gains.
The S&P/ASX 200 benchmark index rose 0.6% to 7,063.8 by 0037 GMT, after closing 0.1% higher on Monday.
The mining subindex, the largest constituent of the benchmark, was among top gainers, firming up to 2% and on track for its biggest intraday percentage change in a week as iron ore prices rose on a continuing surge in steel output.
Global miners Rio Tinto Ltd rose 1.6%, while peer BHP Ltd gained as much as 2%.
Gold stocks climbed more than 3% as bullion prices scaled a more than three-month high, as U.S. Treasury yields remained subdued.
Sector heavyweight Newcrest Mining Ltd gained as much as 3.3% to hit a six-month high, while explorer Bellevue Gold Ltd rose up to 3.9%.
Energy stocks rose after an overnight rise in oil prices, with Santos Ltd hitting a 10-week high.
Blue-chip financial stocks also saw gains with all the "Big four" banks trading in the positive territory.
A weak lead from Wall Street hurt domestic technology stocks , and weighed on overall sentiment.
Buy-now-pay-later giant Afterpay Ltd was down 1.6%, while aerial imagery tech firm Nearmap Ltd fell 3.2%.
James Hardie Industries slumped up to 6.2%, as its higher forecast for fiscal 2022 missed brokerage Citi's estimates.
Shares of the Dublin-based company were on track for their worst session since Nov. 10.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.1% to 12,420.96, with Kathmandu Holdings Ltd and Meridian Energy Ltd leading gains.
(Reporting by Harish Sridharan in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
