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Australia shares drop, led by financials, NZ flat

Published 12/05/2016, 12:28 pm
Updated 12/05/2016, 12:30 pm
© Reuters.  Australia shares drop, led by financials, NZ flat
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* Australia shares fall after 5 days of gains

* AMP, Westpac among top losers on index

* Miners, energy among top gainers

* NZ steadies after touching record on Wednesday

By Swati Pandey and Rebecca Howard

SYDNEY/WELLINGTON, May 12 (Reuters) - Australian shares ran out of steam on Thursday to drop 0.6 percent after five straight days of gains, with financials weighing down the index following Wall Street's weak lead.

The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO slipped 0.6 percent, or 31.09 points to 5,340.1 points by 0148 GMT. The index hit a 9-month high on Wednesday before ending at 5,372.30 points.

The S&P/ASX 200 has risen for seven out of the last 10 sessions and is on track for its third straight monthly rise. Despite recent gains, it is up a mere 1 percent so far this year.

"Weak leads from the United States overnight have dampened bullish sentiment at home and abroad," said Tim Nicol, client adviser at Atlantic Pacific Securities.

Nicol also blamed softer-than-expected corporate earnings for Thursday's sell-off.

"It would be no surprise if we see some more downside pressure in the short term."

Financials led the losses on the index with Australia's top wealth manager AMP AMP.AX tumbling to a one-month low. It dropped more than 6 percent after posting a near 39 percent fall in first-quarter cashflow at its Australian wealth unit.

No.3 lender Westpac Banking Corp WBC.AX was down 4 percent after trading ex-dividend. Other banks were mixed with Commonwealth Bank CBA.AX and National Australia Bank NAB.AX up 0.5 percent each and ANZ Banking ANZ.AX down 0.2 percent.

Energy shares were in the black helped by an overnight bounce in oil prices with Woodside Petroleum WPL.AX , Origin ORG.AX and Santos STO.AX up 1.7-3.6 percent.

Gold miners Newcrest Mining NCM.AX and Northern Star Resources NST.AX were also up.

Major miners BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) BHP.AX and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) RIO.AX rose 0.5 and 1 percent respectively. Fortescue FMG.AX jumped nearly 5 percent.

For more individual stocks activity click on STXBZ

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 was largely unchanged on Thursday, inching up 1.84 points to 6,946.18 after hitting a record high on Wednesday.

Investors shrugged off a weak night on Wall Street and were largely treading water with few driving factors.

The index was weighed by a 2.0 percent fall in Xero XRO.NZ after the company reported another full year net loss.

In the other direction, Sky Network Television SKT.NZ added 2.2 percent on some bargain-hunting after the stock fell sharply on a downbeat forecast.

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