Australia shares hit 4-week high as banks, energy stocks rally

* Financial stocks hit almost 5-month high

* Rio Tinto shares fall on flagging production issues

* NZ's Q2 CPI up 6.0% vs 6.7% jump in Q1

July 19 (Reuters) - Australian shares ended at a four-week high on Wednesday buoyed by a rally in financial and energy stocks, while strong U.S. company earnings relieved investor concerns about a slowdown in global economy.

The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.6% to 7,323.7, its highest closing level since June 21.

Major U.S. stock indexes closed higher overnight, as strong second-quarter results from several big banks boosted investor sentiment.

Back home, investors await key June employment data on Thursday and second-quarter inflation data on July 26 to gauge the Reserve Bank of Australia's policy direction.

"We think a stronger-than-expected second-quarter CPI print is likely what is required to see an August rate hike, given the recent commentary," Morgan Stanley said in a note.

Financials leaped for a seventh consecutive session to close at their highest level since Feb. 28.

The "Big Four" banks rose between 1.1% and 2.1%.

Miners fell 0.6%, hit by losses in Rio Tinto and Northern Star Resources.

Rio fell 0.7% after the Anglo Australian miner reported a raft of production issues across its operations, while also posting a small miss on its second-quarter iron ore shipments.

Northern Star Resources unveiled its full-year production forecast that fell short of market expectations, sending shares of the Australian miner down 5.8%.

Woodside Energy rose 1.4%, as Australia's No.1 oil and gas producer stuck to longer-term production guidance.

Fuel retailer Ampol's group total fuel sales volume rose by nearly a quarter in the first half and beat estimates on a key earnings metric, lifting its shares to their highest in more than six weeks.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.1 to end at 11,944.54.

The country's consumer prices rose 6.0% in the second quarter, slower than the 6.7% increase in the first quarter. (Reporting by Poonam Behura in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)