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Feb 17 (Reuters) - Australian shares ended slightly lower on Friday, after the S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO on Thursday notched its highest close since May 5, 2015.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO was off 0.2 percent, or 10.51 points, at 5,805.8 by the close of trade.
Lower iron ore and copper prices dragged basic material stocks down. The S&P/ASX 200 materials index .AXMJ slipped into negative territory, after hitting more than a two-year high in the previous session.
Mining heavyweights BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) BHP.AX and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) RIO.AX shedding 1.1 percent and 2.1 percent, respectively, making their biggest falls in two weeks.
BHP Billiton's management and worker positions in a strike at its Escondida copper mine in Chile, the world's largest mine, remain distant. ore miner Fortescue Metals FMG.AX lost 2.4 percent.
Shares in industrial building material's company James Hardie Australia JHX.AX fell to a three-month low.
Healthcare stocks were the second biggest losers, with CSL Ltd CSL.AX , Sonic Healthcare SHL.AX and Cochlear Ltd COH.AX dropping between 1.3 percent and 2.2 percent.
The benchmark energy index .AXEJ fell for a fourth consecutive day at 0.5 percent.
Origin Energy ORG.AX hit over a five-week low while WorleyParsons Ltd WOR.AX slipped 2.6 percent.
Hotel operator Mantra Group Ltd MTR.AX , the worst performer on the main index, slumped 5.6 percent after half-year core earnings of its Central Business District segment dipped.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 ended 0.1 percent, or 6.46 points lower, at 7093.52.
Telecoms and utilities were the biggest losers on the index.
Spark New Zealand SPK.NZ dropped 2.3 percent while Meridian Energy MEL.NZ fell for a fifth straight session to more than a five-week low.