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Oct 26 (Reuters) - Australian shares closed lower on Wednesday after dropping to a near one-month low earlier in the day, dragged down by financials and consumer staples after retail giant Wesfarmers took a hit on dour quarterly sales. S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO finished 1.53 percent, or 83.029 points, lower at 5,359.8. The benchmark lost as much as 1.88 percent, to hit its lowest since Sep. 22, 2016.
Shares in Wesfarmers Ltd WES.AX ended 5.7 percent down after the company's first quarter sales undershot market expectations. Same-store food and liquor sales at its Coles supermarket chain rose 1.8 per cent in the three months ending September, down on growth of 3.3 per cent in the June quarter. majors were also hit hard after an overnight drop in oil prices, with Woodside Petroleum WPL.AX closing 1.87 percent lower, and Oil Search OSH.AX off 3.01 percent, driving the benchmark energy index .AXEJ to close 2.45 percent lower.
The financial index .AXFJ dipped 1.32 percent, with all four "Big Banks" down 0.9 percent to 1.4 percent, as investors were jittery ahead of National Australia Bank's NAB.AX earnings on Thursday which might see the bank cut its dividend.
Another highlight of the day was Ardent Leisure AAD.AX , that posted its worst day in more than 1-1/2 years after confirming four fatalities at its theme park in Queensland on Tuesday. Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 closed at its lowest in 3 months, shedding 1.5 percent, or 106.67 points, at 6,896.2.
The benchmark was pulled down by industrials and healthcare stocks, with Auckland International Airport Ltd AIA.NZ and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corp Ltd FPH.NZ posting the biggest losses on the index, each down 5.22 percent and 1.64 percent respectively.