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By Sherin Sunny

Sept 30 (Reuters) -Australian shares surged to a record high on Monday as Chinese stimulus measures over the weekend boosted the mining sector, raising hopes of increased demand for domestic raw materials through a revival in China's property market.

The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO closed 0.7% higher at a record close of 8,269.8 points. The benchmark rose nearly 2.2% in September.

Miners .AXMM ended 1.8% higher to touch their highest since June. 3. The sub-index gains for five straight sessions and marking its best month since Dec. 2023.

"China is Australia's biggest and arguably most important export market, so if we do start to see signs of an improving economy there, Australia stands to be one of the beneficiaries," said Tim Waterer, market analyst at KCM Trade.

Mining trio BHP BHP.AX, Rio Tinto RIO.AX and Fortescue FMG.AX advanced between 1.3% and 2.9%.

Meanwhile, growing investor optimism over cooling U.S. inflation and a potential Federal Reserve rate cut has sparked expectations that the Reserve Bank of Australia could follow with one or two rate cuts in 2024.

Energy stocks .AXEJ surged 2.6% higher on rising oil prices. O/R

Sector majors Woodside Energy WDS.AX and Santos STO.AX clocked gains at 3.5% and 2.6%, respectively.

Bucking the trend, gold stocks .AXGD shed 1.9% at close. Financials largely traded flat, adding 0.4%.

Separately, investors are on the watch for the local retail sales data for August due on Tuesday, as it may offer clues about the outlook for interest rates.

"We are expecting to see retail sales gain 0.4% for the month, which would be mediocre at best but not enough to get the RBA to change course sooner than they have currently signalled," said Waterer

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 finished the session 0.3% lower at 12,423.82.

Reporting by Sherin Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee

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