Australian shares pushed higher by gold stocks and Woodside Petroleum

Australian shares closed slightly higher on Thursday, as firm bullion prices boosted gold stocks and Woodside Petroleum led energy names higher after reporting strong annual results.

The resources-heavy S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.2% to 7,296.20 after Wednesday's 1.1% jump.

Gold stocks jumped 2.1% as bullion prices held ground near an eight-month high touched earlier this week.

Heavyweights Northern Star Resources and Newcrest Mining climbed 4.4% and 1.5%, respectively.

Woodside Petroleum surged 4.1% as the oil and gas explorer said its annual profit more than tripled. This, along with an overnight rally in crude oil prices, helped the energy index close 0.9% higher.

Miners climbed 0.6%