Australia shares rise on expectations for a rate cut on Tuesday

* Banks rise on expectation of c.bank cut

* Oil stocks up on spot price rebound (Adds analysis, quotes, stocks on the move)

SYDNEY/WELLINGTON, April 2 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose on Thursday as investors shrugged off a fall on from Wall Street and bought bank stocks amid growing expectations of a rate cut within days.

The Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to announce its second rate cut of 2015 when it meets on Tuesday, the next trading day after markets close for the Easter weekend. A cut would encourage more people to get loans.

"The market is pricing in an expectation of a 70 percent chance of a rate cut next week, and that is why a lot of people are repositioning themselves in the banks," said IG Markets strategist Evan Lucas.

By 0132 GMT, the S&P/ASX 200 index was up 45.0 points or 0.8 percent at 5905.5, reversing the previous day's fall. That compared to a weaker close on Wall Street, where investors braced for disappointing jobs data to be released on Friday.

Banks led the gains, with lending majors Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group and National Australia Bank all up about 1 percent.

QBE Insurance Group jumped 4 percent after saying it is considering increasing its dividends.

Energy stocks advanced after the oil price rebounded from recent weakness overnight. Origin Energy added nearly 2 percent and Oil Search rose 1.3 percent while Woodside Petroleum firmed 0.5 percent.

Iron ore miners fared worse after the spot price of the key steelmaking ingredient slumped to fresh multi-year lows overnight. Rio Tinto (Xetra: 855018 - news) declined 1.3 percent and rival BHP Billiton eased 0.5 percent, while Fortescue Metals (Hamburg: FVJ.HM - news) Group dropped 3 percent.

Mining products maker Bradken leapt more than 20 percent after media reports said it received a takeover offer from private equity firm Pacific Equity Partners. But the stock retreated to be up 11 percent after Bradken said the offer was too low to consider.

New Zealand's benchmark NZX50 index was 0.3 percent weaker at 5,816.41, hovering just above a five-week low amid softness in power and dairy-related stocks.

The market's number three stock Contact Energy (NZSE: CEN.NZ - news) was 1 percent lower while Meridian Energy was down 3 percent as its shareholders face having to pay the final instalment for the part-paid shares.

The sharp fall in prices in the latest global dairy auction cast a shadow over Synlait Milk down 2 percent, and A-2 Milk, which has just listed on the Australian bourse, down 5.2 percent, while the Fonterra Shareholders Fund was marginally lower. (Reporting by Byron Kaye and Gyles Beckford; Editing by Richard Borsuk)