By Suhail Hassan Bhat
Oct 20 (Reuters) - Australian shares treaded water on Thursday as investors awaited the third U.S. presidential debate, in which Democrat Hillary Clinton will clash with rival Donald Trump for the last time before the November election.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO rose 0.1 percent or 6.74 points to 5442.1 by 0054 GMT.
The debate at the University of Las Vegas, Nevada, gives Trump perhaps his best remaining chance to sway the dwindling number of Americans who are still undecided about which way to vote in the Nov. 8 polls. markets are concerned about potential for economic vandalism if Trump is elected, so if there is a perception that he is closing the gap with Clinton, then markets could sell down," said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist with CMC Markets.
Gains in energy, industrials and materials were offset by declines in financials.
Energy stocks .AXEJ climbed over 1 percent as oil prices rose with U.S. crude settling at its highest in 15 months after the government reported a surprisingly large drop in inventories for the sixth week out of seven. O/R
Woodside Petroleum WPL.AX , Australia's largest independent oil and gas producer, rose as much as 2.1 percent after reporting a 14 percent rise in third-quarter production from the previous quarter, beating analysts' forecasts. giant BHP Billition BHP.AX rose more than a percent, while Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) RIO.AX was up 0.4 percent. Rio Tinto cut its 2016 guidance for iron ore shipments by as much as 5 million tonnes. Mining NCM.AX climbed as much as 2.7 percent, as gold prices breached their 200-day moving average amid uncertainty over the timing of a U.S. interest rate increase. GOL/
At the other end, South32 Ltd S32.AX withered over 1 percent. Miner said September quarter metallurgical coal output at Illawarra Met Coal fell 32 percent on the previous quarter operator Crown Resorts CWN.AX fell 3 percent after company set out its plan to spin off some of its Australian hotels and retail property in an initial public offering. volumes outnumbered declining ones by a more than 1.5:1 ratio on the Australian exchange.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 was down 0.1 percent or 9.76 points at 6966.78.
Gains in materials and telecom stocks were negated by falls in the healthcare, utilities sectors.
Fletcher Building FBU.NZ rose as much as 1.1 percent before shedding some of the gains while Chorus Ltd CNU.NZ was up 1 percent.
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