Sept 12 (Reuters) -Australian shares traded higher on Thursday, as financials and energy stocks led the gains, while investors digested the latest U.S. inflation print and assessed its impact on the global interest rates outlook.

The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO was up 0.6% at 8,035.1 points, as of 1236 GMT. The benchmark closed 0.3% lower on Wednesday.

The latest U.S. inflation report led market watchers to rule out expectations of a 50-basis-point (bp) rate reduction by the Federal Reserve next week, instead had their bets firmed on a 25-bp cut.

In Sydney, most sub-indexes traded in the positive territory.

Rate-sensitive financials .AXFJ were up 0.8%, with the "Big Four" banks advancing between 0.6% and 1.1%.

Tracking oil prices, energy stocks .AXEJ were trading nearly 1% higher with sector major Woodside Energy WDS.AX up 0.7% and Paladin Energy PDN.AX up 9.1%. O/R

Brent crude LCOc1 futures rose 0.18% to $70.74 a barrel while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 gained 0.1% to $67.38 per barrel.

Gold stocks .AXGD traded 0.6% higher, with miners Northern Star Resources NST.AX and Evolution Mining EVN.AX gaining 1.2% and 1%, respectively.

Bucking the trend, local miners .AXMM inched lower by 0.2%. Mining giant BHP Group BHP.AX shed 1.9%, while Rio Tinto RIO.AX and Fortescue FMG.AX gained 1.1% and 1%, respectively.

Overnight, the U.S. Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 124.75 points, or 0.31%, to 40,861.71 points on Wednesday. The S&P 500 .SPX, .SPX gained 58.61 points, or 1.07%, while Nasdaq .IXIC climbed 369.65 points, or 2.17%.

Among individual stocks, Nine Entertainment NEC.AX dropped as much as 4.4% to its lowest level since late April 2020 after the company said CEO Mike Sneesby would step down with effect from Sept. 30. The broadcaster was among the top laggards in the benchmark index.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 was up 0.5% at 12,692.24 points.

Reporting by Sherin Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips

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