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Oct 20(Reuters) - Australian shares ended marginally higher on Thursday with polls showing a tilt in momentum away from Donald Trump after the final U.S. presidential debate. to a CNN snap poll, 52 percent thought Clinton won the debate while 39 percent said Trump was the victor. in the history of the U.S. has a candidate faced such a deficit in the polls as Trump currently holds, with at least two well-known sites (that model the probability of the outcome) putting an 85-90 percent chance of a Clinton win," Chris Weston, chief market strategist at IG in Melbourne, wrote in a note. S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO inched up 0.1 pct to close at 5442.1 pts.
Financials and consumer cyclicals declined while basic materials and industrials gained.
BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) Ltd BHP.AX ended 1.7 pct higher after recording its biggest intraday percentage gain in three weeks, while Westpac Banking Corp WBC.AX ended down 0.6 percent.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 recouped some losses in early trading to end flat at 6,973.78, a more than three-month low.
Gains in telecom stocks and industrials was offset by losses in financials and utilities.
Trade Me Group Ltd TME.NZ , the worst performer on the index, recorded its biggest intraday percentage loss in more than two years to end at a three-month low.