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MELBOURNE, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Australian shares fell 0.6 percent on Thursday as negative market sentiment towards the country's financial sector dragged the index to a six-day low. losses were further fuelled after Australia's No.3 lender Westpac Banking Corp WBC.AX said on Thursday it expects to see higher defaults in the third quarter.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO ended down at 5,508, after it hit 5483.7 points, the weakest since August 5.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 was little changed, ending up 0.06 percent at 7,353.83 after closing down 0.18 percent on Wednesday. (Melanie burton; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)