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By Nichiket Sunil

Dec 23 (Reuters) - Australian shares rebounded on Monday in a broad-based rally led by index heavyweight financials, after cooler-than-expected U.S. inflation data revived hopes for further policy easing by the Federal Reserve.

The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO closed 1.7% higher at 8,201.6, snapping three straight sessions of losses. The benchmark fell 2.8% last week.

Financials .AXFJ gained 2.4% in their best session since early-October 2022, with top lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia CBA.AX rising 2.9%, while ANZ ANZ.AX, National Australia Bank NAB.AX, and Westpac WBC.AX climbed between 2% and 2.4%.

Jessica Amir, a market strategist at trading platform moomoo, attributed the gains to the better-than-expected U.S. data from Friday.

The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index - the Fed's preferred gauge of inflation - showed moderate monthly rises in prices, with a measure of underlying inflation posting its smallest gain in six months.

"It (the report) is basically a great line of defence to continue cutting interest rates. The overall narrative in terms of liquidity is setting up a bullish runway for liquidity services in 2025," Amir said.

Miners .AXMM snapped an eight-session losing streak and closed 1.1% higher as iron ore futures rose, buoyed by expectations of another wave of restocking by steelmakers in top consumer China. IRONORE/

Sector majors BHP Group BHP.AX, Rio Tinto RIO.AX and Fortescue FMG.AX advanced between 0.3% and 1.1%.

Gold stocks .AXGD closed 1.5% higher, supported by stronger bullion prices. GOL/

Consumer discretionary stocks .AXDJ climbed 2.3%, with conglomerate Wesfarmers WES.AX gaining 3.3%.

Real estate stocks .AXRE gained 2%, while technology stocks .AXIJ rose 1.5%.

In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 closed 0.7%, or 83.92 points, higher at 12,988.03.

(Reporting by Nichiket Sunil in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

((Nichiket.Sunil@thomsonreuters.com))

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