Australia shares extend rally for second day on Fed rate outlook
* Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) up 1.4 pct, post biggest 1-day gain in a year
* Gains across all sectors despite falls in oil, metals prices
* 169 shares up vs 29 down and 12 unchanged (Adds analysis, quotes, stocks on the move)
By Swati Pandey and Naomi Tajitsu
SYDNEY/WELLINGTON, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose 1.8 percent on Friday in a broad-based rally after Wall Street boasted its biggest two-day advance since late 2011 after the Federal Reserve promised patience in the timing of interest rate hikes.
The gains came even as oil stayed under pressure and base metals fell.
The S&P/ASX 200 index jumped 92.4 points to 5,303.2 by 0136 GMT, Its biggest single day gain since last December. The benchmark rose 1 percent on Thursday.
"There is a general good feeling in the market after the Fed announcement. Probably also coupled with the fact that we are getting into holidays," said Sydney-based Kara Ordway, analyst at City Index.
A Reuters poll showed Australia's benchmark share index was set to end 2015 at its highest since May 2008 as risks from weak commodity prices were seen likely to be eclipsed by an improving U.S. economy and hefty inflows from pension funds.
The "Big Four" Commonwealth Bank of Australia (Other OTC: CBAUF - news) , Westpac Banking Corp, ANZ Banking Group and National Australia Bank were up about 1.5 percent.
Among large miners, BHP Billiton (NYSE: BBL - news) rose 2.4 percent and Rio Tinto (Xetra: 855018 - news) gained 2 percent, while gold major Newcrest mining rose 2.6 percent.
Elsewhere travel insurer Cover-More rose 11 percent, its biggest single-day gain since listing in 2013.
Energy stocks such as Woodside Petroleum (Other OTC: WOPEF - news) , Caltex and Beach Energy were up 1.7-3.9 percent.
On Wall Street, the Dow surged 2.43 percent, while the S&P 500 gained 2.4 percent and Nasdaq 2.24 percent. That was the biggest daily rise for the S&P since January 2013 and left it up 4.5 percent in just two sessions.
New Zealand's benchmark NZX share index rose 23.6 points or 0.5 percent to a record intraday high of 5,545.03, following gains in global share markets.
Gold prospector OceanaGold (Other OTC: OGDCF - news) led the market higher, rising 6.8 percent to a one-week high of NZ$2.36 ($2), boosted as global gold prices appeared to stabilise from a dip earlier this week in volatile trading.
Fletcher Building (NZSE: FBU.NZ - news) climbed 2.64 percent to a one-week high of NZ$8.15 when Deutsche Bank (Xetra: 514000 - news) raised its price target for the construction materials company, one of the country's largest firms. (Editing by Eric Meijer)
