* Investors stay on sidelines ahead of Christmas break
* Losses in financial, healthcare weigh on Australian index
* Sky Network Television top gainer on NZ index for 2nd day
* NZ index up 2.1% for week, Australia 1.2% higher
Dec 20 (Reuters) - Australian shares inched lower on Friday, dragged down by financial and healthcare stocks, but were on track for a more than 1% weekly rise on the back of Monday's sizeable gain.
Fuelled by news that the United States and China agreed to a "phase one" trade deal, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO jumped 1.6% on the first trading day of the week. Since then trading has been lacklustre, with most investors holding off big bets ahead of the Christmas break.
On Friday, the S&P/ASX 200 index fell 19.6 points, or 0.3%, to 6,813.10 by 0009 GMT.
Among financial stocks .AXFJ , Westpac Banking Corp, the country's second-biggest lender WBC.AX , which has been hit by a string of lawsuits in the recent weeks, slipped for a fourth consecutive session. Westpac shares were down 0.5%.
Shares of No. 3 lender National Australia Bank NAB.AX fell 0.3%, while those of top lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia CBA.AX declined 0.4%.
Pharmaceuticals giant CSL Ltd CSL.AX , the fifth-biggest stock on the index, reversed early gains to decline 0.4%. Cochlear Ltd COH.AX shed 0.8%, while U.S.-based Resmed Inc's RMD.AX Australian shares lost 0.7%.
Supported by firm metals prices, copper and iron ore miners offered some support to the index. Heavyweight Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) Ltd RIO.AX rose 0.5%, while Fortescue Metals Group FMG.AX inched higher.
Elsewhere, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 hit a record high for the second straight session before trading marginally lower.
Sky Network Television SKT.NZ was the top gainer for a second consecutive session. SKT shares added 4.3%, a day after the television broadcaster agreed to buy entertainment streaming service Lightbox and merge it with its own entertainment streaming service Neon. benchmark kiwi stock index was on track for a weekly gain of around 2.1% after two straight weeks of losses.