The mining trio of Rio Tinto RIO.AX, BHP Group BHP.AX and Fortescue Metals FMG.AX gained between 3.8% and 1.2%. By Tejaswi Marthi May 27 (Reuters) - Australian shares closed slightly higher on Thursday, as gains in mining and tech stocks eclipsed losses in gold names, while investors remained cautious ahead of key U.S. inflation data. Concerns about higher inflation have loomed over global equity markets in recent weeks, and investors now await the monthly U.S. personal consumption report due on Friday to gauge price pressure.