SYDNEY/WELLINGTON, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Australian shares fell for the eight straight session on Tuesday as mounting losses in the resources sector swamped gains in defensive stocks such as banks and telecoms.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO failed to hold even the slimmest of early rallies and slipped 0.3 percent, or 12.24 points, to 4,920.0.
That left the benchmark down around 7 percent on the year so far, its worst start on record.
Deep-seated concerns about the outlook for China and further pain for commodity prices offered no respite.
Losses for crude oil prices were approaching 20 percent in just seven sessions as analysts scrambled to cut their 2016 oil price forecasts and traders bet on further price falls.
Iron ore has also been on the wane, with five sessions of losses taking the spot price down to $40./90 a tonne.
Santos STO.AX , Woodside WPL.AX , BHP Billiton (L:BLT) BHP.AX and Rio Tinto (L:RIO) RIO.AX all nursed losses. Santos alone was down 18 percent on the year so far.
Demand was largely for defensive stocks, such as Telstra TLS.AX and the major banks. Commonwealth Bank of Australia CBA.AX edged up almost 0.7 percent to make the single largest contribution to the index.
New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index .NZ50 tried to buck the trend with a gain of 0.3 percent, or 17.23 points, to 6,120.10.
The subsidiaries of Australian banks led gains, with ANZ ANZ.NZ rising 2.4 percent and Westpac WBC.NZ 1.5 percent.
Property companies also had a boost, with Property for Industries PFI.NZ and Precinct Properties PCT.NZ each rising 1.2 percent.
Online auction site Trade Me TME.NZ , which announced changes to its pricing, rose 1 percent. Warehouse Group WHS.NZ rose 0.4 percent on top of a 5 percent gain the previous session in the wake of a profit forecast. Bank HBL.NZ was the biggest loser, down 0.8 percent and Air New Zealand AIR.NZ edged down 0.2 percent.
(Editing by Kim Coghill)