* Benchmark rises almost 2%
    * Tech stocks gain after 4 days
    * Mercury NZ top gainer on NZ index

    By Aditya Munjuluru
    March 8 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose sharply on Monday
and were set for their best day in two months after the U.S.
Senate passed a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan, while last
week's upbeat U.S. jobs data also supported sentiment.
    The S&P/ASX 200 index  .AXJO  advanced as much as 1.8% to
6,830.7 by 2240 GMT. The benchmark ended 0.7% lower on Friday.
    The U.S. Senate on Saturday passed President Joe Biden's
COVID-19 relief plan, one of the largest stimulus bills in U.S.
history, a day after data showed that the U.S. economy created
more jobs than expected in February.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2L403Q  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2L23EI
    Over the weekend, Australia also started vaccinating its
citizens against the coronavirus with AstraZeneca's  AZN.L 
vaccine. Inoculation with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine had
started in February.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2L500X
    Among individual sectors, mining stocks  .AXMM  gained as
much as 2.8%, with BHP  BHP.AX  and Rio Tinto  RIO.AX  firming
3.4% and 3%, respectively.
    Technology stocks  .AXIJ  rose as much as 2.7%, snapping
four straight sessions of losses. Buy now, pay later firm
Afterpay  APT.AX  advanced up to 4.6%, while Appen  APX.AX 
gained as much as 3.8%.
    Financial stocks  .AXFJ  rose 1.5% to hit an over one-week
high. The "Big Four" banks rose between 1.2% and 1.9%.
    Top performers in the financial sector were Janus Henderson
Group  JHG.AX  and IOOF Holdings  IFL.AX , gaining 4.7% and
3.1%, respectively.
    Energy stocks  .AXEJ  rose nearly 2% to a 10-week high,
tracking a jump in oil prices. Oil Search  OSH.AX  advanced
4.3%, while Beach Energy  BPT.AX  firmed 3.8%.
    In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index  .NZ50  was 
1.3% higher at 12,334.3.
    The top percentage gainers on the index were Mercury NZ
 MCY.NZ  and Synlait Milk  SML.NZ , up 3.7% and 2.9%,
respectively.

 (Reporting by Aditya Munjuluru; Editing by Aditya Soni)
 ((aditya.srivastsav@thomsonreuters.com; 080 61822719;))
 
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