July 22 (Reuters) - Australian shares climbed around 1% on Thursday, with BHP Group leading the charge among mining stocks after the global miner signed a nickel supply deal with U.S. electric carmaker Tesla.

The S&P/ASX 200 index was up 0.7% at 7,360.3 just 30 minutes into trade, with energy stocks being the biggest gainers.

Wall Street ended higher for a second session, with investors switching focus to corporate earnings. Elsewhere, the Nikkei rose 0.6%.

Mining stocks jumped 2.1%, with strong gains by Iluka Resources Ltd and Coronado Global Resources Inc .

BHP Group jumped around 3% after it signed the deal with Tesla, and will work with the carmaker on lowering carbon emissions in the battery supply chain. Last month, Tesla had said it expects to spend more than $1 billion a year on battery raw materials from Australia given the country's reliable mining industry and responsible production practices.

Newcrest Mining edged 0.2% higher after its flagship Cadia mine beat its annual gold production forecast.

Northern Star Resources added nearly 2% after the company announced sale of its Kundana operations in Western Australia to Evolution Mining Ltd for A$400 million ($294.20 million).

Energy stocks climbed more than 2%, led by Santos Ltd, up 2.89%.

Santos advanced after the gas producer hiked the bottom-end of its annual production outlook and reported a 37% jump in quarterly revenue.

Financials advanced 0.8%, with all the "Big Four" banks trading in the black.

Technology stocks added 0.7%, led by Computershare Ltd, up 2.95%, followed by Megaport Ltd, gaining 2.53%.

In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.17% to 12,731.3.

The top percentage gainers on the benchmark were EBOS Group Ltd, up 1.05%, followed by Heartland Group Holdings Ltd , gaining 1%, and Investore Property Ltd rising 0.99%.

($1 = 1.3596 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)