June 19 (Reuters) - Australian shares climbed for a sixth consecutive session on Monday, driven by healthcare and financial stocks, while market participants awaited minutes of the local central bank's June policy meeting for further policy direction.

The S&P/ASX 200 index gained 0.3% to 7,273.00 by 0105 GMT. The benchmark closed 1.1% higher on Friday.

Investors will parse through the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) minutes due on Tuesday to see if the central bank would continue with its interest rate-hike campaign.

"We now look for the RBA to tighten (rates) by 25 bps in July and August. That will take the cash rate to a peak of 4.60%," analysts from ANZ said in a research note.

Trading remained lacklustre across the region as investors stayed on the sidelines after the U.S. Federal Reserve chose to take a break from its aggressive rate-hike path last week.

In Sydney, healthcare stocks rose the most, gaining almost 1.2%. CSL Ltd climbed 1.5%.

Financial stocks advanced 0.7%, with the country's largest banks climbing in the range of 0.3% to 0.8%.

On the flip side, the mining index was among the losers on the benchmark stock index, slipping about 0.6%. Sector majors Rio Tinto and BHP Group fell 0.8% and 0.5%, respectively.

Among single stocks, Lake Resources was the top loser on the benchmark, after the lithium miner flagged a delay in the first production of battery-grade lithium carbonate to 2027.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.5% to 11,744.05. (Reporting by Archishma Iyer in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)