* Financials down 0.8% after stellar gains last week
* Investors weigh near-term hit on global growth amid virus scare
* Gold stocks advance up to 1.3%
By Sameer Manekar
Feb 17 (Reuters) - Australian shares traded lower on Monday, dragged down by heavy losses in financial stocks, as investors booked profit following last week's rally in the banking sector, which helped the benchmark index post its biggest weekly gain in a month.
Cautious investors were still trying to gauge the economic fallout of China's coronavirus outbreak, with Chinese health authorities reporting more than 5,000 new cases on Friday.
In Hubei - the epicentre of the epidemic - 1,933 new cases and 100 new deaths were reported on Sunday, taking the total number of deaths in the province to nearly 1,700. S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO was down 0.2% at 7,115.6, as of 2350 GMT, and on track to snap four consecutive sessions of gains.
The financial sub-index .AXFJ fell up to 0.8% on Monday after last week's 3.6% rise, lifted primarily by heavyweights Commonwealth Bank of Australia CBA.AX and Westpac Banking Corp WBC.AX , which advanced 7.3% and 2.8% over the week.
"We had close to 4% gains in the past week from the financials, which are unsustainable," Steven Daghlian, a market analyst at CommSec said.
"This is a reflection how well financials have done in the past week, and a bit of money is being taken off the table."
National Australia Bank NAB.AX , which gained 5.5% over the previous week, marked its worst session since Feb. 3 as the country's third-biggest lender launched the resale of capital notes worth A$750 million ($503.93 million) on Monday. sector .AXMM traded little changed, with global miners BHP Group Ltd BHP.AX and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) Ltd RIO.AX falling up to 0.5% and 0.3%, respectively.
Among the gainers, energy stocks .AXEJ advanced up to 0.6%, with Woodside Petroleum WPL.AX and Caltex Australia CTX.AX driving the gains.
Takeover target Caltex Australia added 4.2% after the oil retailer said it would allow Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc ATDb.TO to conduct additional due diligence, following a sweetened buyout offer last week. stocks .AXGD rose up to 1.3%, with miners Saracen Mineral Holdings SAR.AX and Regis Resources RRL.AX advancing 3.9% and 5% after upbeat half-yearly results. insurer QBE Insurance Group QBE.AX rose 1.1% after posting a 41% surge in its full-year statutory net profit after tax. Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 was trading flat after falling for two consecutive sessions.
Financials and utilities sectors were the top drags, with NZ-listed shares of Westpac Banking Corp WBC.NZ and electricity generator Meridian Energy MEL.NZ losing up to 1.4% each.
($1 = 1.4883 Australian dollars)