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Aussie, NZ shares end lower as markets seek clarity on Sino-U.S. talks

Published 26/02/2019, 04:57 pm
© Reuters.  Aussie, NZ shares end lower as markets seek clarity on Sino-U.S. talks
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* Aussie shares snap 3 sessions of gains

* Financials, miners biggest weights on index (Updates to close)

Feb 26 (Reuters) - Australian shares snapped a three-session winning streak on Tuesday, with financials and resources stocks leading broad-based losses as investors were racked by uncertainty over the progress of Sino-U.S. trade talks.

The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO fell 0.9 percent or 57.9 points to 6,128.40 at the close of trade, its worst session in nearly two months. The benchmark rose 0.3 percent on Monday.

After his positive comments over the weekend, U.S. President Donald Trump later struck a cautious note saying a trade deal "could happen fairly soon, or it might not happen at all." stocks weighed the heaviest on the Australian benchmark, with the big four banks of the country ending about of 0.5 percent to 1.2 percent lower.

The financial subindex .AXFJ saw its worst session in more than two weeks, shedding about 0.9 percent for the day.

Bourse operator ASX Ltd ASX.AX ended about 3 percent lower after it said it would sell its nearly 19 percent stake in wealth manager IRESS Ltd IRE.AX . stocks, many of which are heavily reliant on Chinese demand, were also pressured. The mining subindex .AXMM shed about 1 percent, with heavyweights BHP Group BHP.AX and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) RIO.AX ending 1.3 percent and 0.6 percent lower respectively.

On a more positive note, petrol station operator Caltex Australia CTX.AX ended about 4.7 percent higher after reporting a better than forecast annual net profit. services provider SpeedCast International Ltd SDA.AX was the best performer on the ASX 200 after it posited a much stronger earnings performance in 2019. Zealand shares edged lower as most financial stocks fell in line with their Australian peers. The benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 fell 0.2 percent or 21.5 points to finish the session at 9,323.13.

The New Zealand shares of Westpac Banking Corp WBC.NZ and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group ANZ.NZ ended 0.6 percent and 1 percent lower, respectively.

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