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Aussie shares end lower as materials, financials weigh; NZ inches up

Published 28/02/2018, 05:15 pm
© Reuters.  Aussie shares end lower as materials, financials weigh; NZ inches up
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* BHP biggest drag on the Australian Index

* New Zealand extends gains into 6th session (Updates to close)

Feb 28 (Reuters) - Australian shares broke a five-session run of gains on Wednesday, tracking a fall in U.S. equities, while materials stocks fell in line with a dip in commodity prices.

Wall Street closed lower overnight after comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell revived fears about more interest-rate increases.

Iron ore futures and base metal prices dipped. .N IRONORE/ MET/L

The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO fell 0.7 percent to 6,016.0 at the close of trade. The benchmark rose 0.2 percent on Tuesday.

Miner BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) BHP.AX pulled down the benchmark about 7 points, and dragged most heavily on the ASX 200. The stock lost about 2 percent in the day.

Materials stocks were the biggest drags, with the sector index .AXMM ending 1.4 percent lower.

Financials fell in with their U.S. peers as the S&P 500 Financial Sector index .SPSY shed nearly 1 percent overnight.

The finance sector .AXFJ ended 0.6 percent lower as the "Big Four" banks fell. Westpac Banking Corp WBC.AX ended 1.3 percent lower, pulling the index down nearly 5 points.

Harvey Norman Holdings

Coal to retail conglomerate Wesfarmers WES.AX and oil explorer Woodside Petroleum WPL.AX provided little support to the index, ending more than 1 percent higher apiece.

In New Zealand, shares rose for a sixth consecutive session on climbing healthcare and consumer staples, although gains were checked by a number of falling sectors.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 rose 0.16 percent or 13.44 points to finish the session at 8,373.82.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare FPH.NZ and a2 Milk ATM.NZ were the biggest boosts to the index, collectively pushing it up about 24 points.

Subscription television provider Sky Network Television SKT.NZ weighed most heavily on the index, despite logging a 12 percent rise in its first-half 2018 net profit.

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