* Woodside Petroleum CEO to retire in second half of 2021
* Link Administration soars after rival buyout offer
* PGG Wrightson hits highest in more than 11 years
Dec 8 (Reuters) - Australian shares inched higher on Tuesday as gold miners rose on strong bullion prices, though gains were capped by losses in energy stocks triggered by an overnight slump in oil prices.
Some investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of a vote in the U.S. Congress this week on a one-week stopgap funding bill to provide more time for lawmakers to reach a deal on COVID-19 relief.
The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.15% to 6,684.7 by 1215 GMT, after gaining 0.6% on Monday.
Link Administration was the top percentage gainer on the benchmark with a rise of 14.5%, after SS&C Technologies made a A$3.02 billion ($2.24 billion) buyout offer on Monday, higher than a proposal by private equity firms Carlyle Group and Pacific Equity Partners.
Energy stocks slipped up to 1.6%, tracking an overnight slump in oil prices amid surging COVID-19 cases and heightened tensions between the United States and China.
Whitehaven Coal and Oil Search, down 3.6% and 3.2% respectively, were among the top drags.
Meanwhile, Woodside Petroleum said its chief executive officer, Peter Coleman, planned to retire in the second half of 2021 and that the search for a replacement had begun.
On the upside, the gold sub-index gained as much as 2.8%, after expectations of fresh fiscal stimulus in the United States pushed prices up 1% on Monday.
Sector heavyweights Newcrest Mining and Northern Star Resources added up to 2.4% and 3.3%, respectively.
In New Zealand, the benchmark stock index was up 0.5% at 12,717.85.
Agricultural services firm PGG Wrightson hit its highest in more than 11 years after projecting strong earnings outlook for FY21. (Reporting by Arundhati Dutta in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
