By Devika Syamnath
Dec 21 (Reuters) - Australian shares were slightly lower on Thursday, pulling back from the previous session's near 10-year high after a lacklustre Wall Street response to the much-awaited U.S. tax cut approval, although local resource stocks rallied on firmer metals prices.
Analysts say U.S. markets have already priced in the approval of the tax bill, which includes substantial cuts for big corporates. .N
"The U.S. tax plan is virtually home now but the Americans built that in, so there's a relatively flat lead for our market today," said James McGlew, executive director of corporate stockbroking at Argonaut.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO was down 12.4 points, or 0.2 percent, to 6063.2 at 0134 GMT. It rose 0.1 percent on Wednesday.
Financials and real estate were the biggest decliners on the main board with Australia's biggest lender Commonwealth Bank CBA.AX , the biggest burden on the index, losing 0.4 percent.
Retail properties manager Scentre Group Ltd SCG.AX shed 1.8 percent, pulling down the sector.
Telco Telstra Corp Ltd TLS.AX declined 0.8 percent, weighing on the benchmark.
Materials stocks helped partially offset losses in other parts of the market with global miners BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) BHP.AX and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) RIO.AX gaining 1.3 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively.
"The tax changes in the U.S. are particularly pertinent for the resources market ... the large infrastructure spin that is being flagged follows these tax changes and the Australian market is being buoyed by that sentiment," said McGlew.
Base metal prices also underpinned the sector's rise, with nickel hitting its highest since mid-November and copper at a two-month high on Wednesday. MET/L
Elsewhere, Australian gas producer AWE Ltd AWE.AX said it would accept a sweetened takeover offer from Mineral Resources Ltd MIN.AX , which trumped a bid from a Chinese state-owned firm. of target AWE fell 2.8 percent post the news while Mineral Resources climbed 3.5 percent to its highest in nearly a month.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 pulled back from a record high hit during the previous session after data showed that economic growth cooled.
The benchmark was mostly flat, down 1.5 points at 8,409, with gains in consumer staples offset by healthcare and materials stocks.
New Zealand's gross domestic product surpassed expectations as construction activity soared in the third quarter, but grew at a slower rate than the previous quarter, official data showed on Thursday. (Editing by Sam Holmes)