* Australia's benchmark stock index up 3%
* Financials, miners lead gains; CBA up 2%
* New Zealand benchmark index down over 1%
* Auckland Int'l Airport to raise up to $704 mln
By Sameer Manekar
April 6 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose more than 3% on Monday, driven by financials and miners, as hopes of a levelling-off of the coronavirus crisis in the United States and a slowing rate of daily new cases in Australia fuelled positive sentiment.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO was up 3.2% at 5,227.5 by 0035 GMT after Friday's 1.7% drop.
U.S. stock futures ESc1 climbed more than 1.5% in early Asian trading after U.S. President Donald Trump expressed hope the country was seeing a "levelling off" of the virus crisis. Australia, confirmed cases rose to 5,687 by Sunday afternoon, suggesting that the daily rate of infections was below 5%, about a fifth of what the country experienced in mid-March. The death toll rose to 34. slowdown in new cases of the virus and a slew of companies announcing capital raising to boost their balance sheet could be attributed to Monday's positive sentiment, said Henry Jennings, a senior analyst and portfolio manager at Marcustoday Financial Newsletter.
Flight Centre Travel Group FLT.AX announced a A$700 million ($419.86 million) equity capital raising, including A$282 million placement with institutional investors at A$7.20 per share. gainers, heavyweight financials .AXFJ advanced 3.4%, with all the Big Four banks rising between 1.5% and 2%.
Top lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia CBA.AX and peer Westpac Banking Corp WBC.AX gained nearly 2% each.
Mining stocks .AXMM added 3%, with BHP Group BHP.AX and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) RIO.AX gaining 1.6% and 1.3%, respectively.
Energy stocks .AXEJ were up 4%, marking their sixth consecutive session of gains. Woodside Petroleum WPL.AX and Santos Ltd STO.AX advanced 4.7% and 6.3%, respectively.
Meanwhile, Caltex Australia CTX.AX said it would extend the planned shutdown of Lytton oil refinery to ward off an expected hit to refining due to the pressure on demand amid the coronavirus pandemic. Shares of the fuel retailer were up nearly 5%. stocks .AXGD gained 3.5%, with heavyweights Newcrest Mining NCM.AX and Northern Star Resources NST.AX adding 3.4% and 5.1%, respectively.
In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 slipped as much as 1.3% to 9,807.98 after a near 0.7% gain on Friday.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corp FPH.NZ and electricity generator Meridian Energy MEL.NZ were among the top losers, slipping as much as 3% each.
Auckland International Airport AIA.NZ said it would raise up to NZ$1.2 billion ($704.5 million) to shore up its balance sheet.