* Commodity stocks lead losses, banks rise as CBA extends gains
* ACCC lays criminal cartel charges against ANZ
* Retail property manager Mirvac falls on UBS rate downgrade
* NZ closes at record, a2 Milk Company top support (Updates to close)
By Devika Syamnath
June 5 (Reuters) - Australian shares ended on a dour note on Tuesday as losses in commodity stocks outweighed a relief rally for banks after Commonwealth settled a civil lawsuit filed by financial intelligence agency AUSTRAC.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO closed 0.5 percent lower, or 30.6 points at 5,994.9. The benchmark rose 0.6 percent on Monday.
Australia's central bank left interest rates unchanged at record lows as expected, flagging lukewarm inflation and wage growth. stocks declined on weak metal prices, notably iron ore, while a sharp overnight fall in global oil prices hurt energy shares. MET/L IRONORE/ O/R
Global mining heavyweights Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) RIO.AX and BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) BHP.AX both fell 1.4 percent.
Gas supplier Origin Energy ORG.AX lost 2.4 percent, while Woodside Petroleum WPL.AX shed 0.7 percent.
Real estate stocks were under pressure with Mirvac Group MGR.AX falling 3.5 percent after UBS downgraded the stock, citing weaker home prices, said Damian Rooney, director of equity sales at Argonaut.
Credit tightening could impact "Mirvac's best customer, the investor, and best market, Sydney," said UBS in a note.
Home prices across Australia's major cities eased for an eighth straight month in May as tighter lending standards at banks cooled demand in Sydney and Melbourne. healthcare stocks .AXHJ pulled back from a record high on Monday. CSL Ltd CSL.AX dropped 0.9 percent and Ramsay Health Care RHC.AX slid 3 percent to its lowest close in over two years.
Rooney said U.S. based drug developer Nektar Therapeutics' NKTR.O overnight tumble sapped confidence in Australian pharma stocks. Nektar's shares tanked nearly 42 percent after data from trials testing its experimental cancer drug with Bristol-Myers Squibb's Opdivo disappointed investors. just reminds people that being involved with new discoveries can be fairly difficult," said Rooney.
On the other hand, financials held up as CBA CBA.AX extended gains and rose 1 percent despite being slapped with a record penalty to settle money laundering charges by AUSTRAC on Monday. after markets closed, Australia's competition watchdog charged Australia and New Zealand Bank ANZ.AX , along with units of Citigroup (NYSE:C) and Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn), with criminal cartel charges. Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 climbed 1.4 percent or 120.88 points, to a record closinhg high of 8,757.0.
The index enjoyed broad gains led by dairy producer A2 Milk Company ATM.NZ , which added 5.3 percent.
Peer Fonterra Co-Operative Group FCG.NZ rose about 1 percent after it said total domestic milk production in April rose 3 percent.