(Adds analysis, quotes, stocks on the move)
By Cecile Lefort and Naomi Tajitsu
SYDNEY/WELLINGTON, July 20 (Reuters) - Shares in Australian gold miners were hit hard as the international price of the precious metal sank to a five-year low on Monday, but banks and technology firms managed to offset commodity weakness, leaving the overall index little changed.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO dipped 0.1 percent or 8.2 points to 5,631.9 by 03:31 GMT. The benchmark hit a three-week peak of 5,591.2 last Thursday.
A sharp drop in gold's price sent the S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Gold index .AXGD index around 9 percent down, as currency factors exacerbated the weakness. ID:nL3N100195
"The Australian dollar gold price is falling faster than the Aussie dollar and that's hurting the gold miners," said David Lennox, a commodities analyst for Fat Prophets.
Evolution Mining EVN.AX tumbled 15 percent, while Northern Star Resources NST.AX lost 9 percent, and Newcrest Mining NCM.AX , Australia's biggest independent listed producer, shed 8 percent.
The energy sector was also affected with Woodside Petroleum WPL.AX , Origin Energy ORG.AX and Santos STO.AX under pressure.
Financial shares, however, fared better after the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA) said on Monday it will lift the amount of bank capital for home loans to strengthen the finances of the nation's largest lenders. ID:nL3N0ZZ0EV
Investors were relieved that the increase was on the low end of the expected range.
Macquarie Group MQG.AX was the biggest beneficiary, up 2 percent, while Australia and New Zealand Banking Group ANZ.AX added 0.7 percent.
Information and technology sector outperformed, thanks in part to a near 4 percent jump in Computershare Ltd CPU.AX following a weekend media report about a potential UK acquisition. ID:nL3N100054
New Zealand's benchmark NZX50 index edged up 10.87 points or 0.2 percent to a two-week high of 5,864.63 in early trade, boosted by gains in telecommunications and industrial shares.
A thaw in global risk aversion bolstered the country's biggest companies, with telecom retailer Spark SPK.NZ rising 1 percent, while Auckland Airport AIA.NZ rose 0.5 percent and Air New Zealand rose 0.9 percent.
Summerset SUM.NZ jumped 1.3 percent to a lifetime high of NZ$3.99 after the fast-growing retirement village operator said it had picked up more land to extend one of its existing villages, while it was looking for more land acquisitions. ID:nWNBS011H0
Further upside was limited by a 0.5 percent slide in building materials maker Fletcher Building FBU.NZ .
A2 Milk Company ATM.NZ was down 1.3 percent at NZ$0.760 after the niche milk processor said it had rejected a takeover offer from Australia's Freedom Foods FNP.AX and U.S. food giant Dean Foods DF.NZ . ID:nL3N10003T
(Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)