* Lower oil prices hurt Australian energy stocks
* Gold stocks track bullion prices lower
* Santos signals final investment decision on Barossa project soon
By Soumyajit Saha
March 24 (Reuters) - Australian shares traded flat on Wednesday, tracking a choppy Wall Street, as a retreat in energy and mining stocks due to weaker commodity prices eclipsed gains among healthcare and tech sectors.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO was flat at 6,745.4 by 2327 GMT. The benchmark closed 0.1% lower on Tuesday.
Overnight, all three major U.S. indexes fell between 0.8% and 1.1% after U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen defended developing plans for future tax increases to pay for the new public investments. .N
"I think investors in Australia are still picking through the comments from Janet Yellen and (Federal Reserve Chair) Jerome Powell ... they will take a bit of time to digest," said James Tao, a market analyst with CommSec.
Nikkei futures NKc1 were down 0.38%, while S&P 500 E-minis futures EScv1 dipped 0.03%.
The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes US10YT=RR rose to 1.6171%, compared with its U.S. close of 1.638%.
Energy stocks .AXEJ dropped 1.5% as oil prices plunged on new pandemic curbs and slow vaccine rollouts in Europe. O/R
Oil and gas explorers Woodside Petroleum WPL.AX and Santos STO.AX lost 1.6% and 1.8%, respectively.
Santos said on Wednesday it expects to make a final investment decision on its Barossa project in the coming weeks, after postponing the call last year. stocks .AXGD were 1% lower as prices of the underlying precious commodity fell against a strengthening dollar that offset a dip in U.S Treasury yields. GOL/
Top gold producer Newcrest Mining NCM.AX was down 1.3%, while smaller peer Bellevue Gold BGL.AX lost 2.7%.
Bucking the sombre mood, the Australian health stocks .AXHJ advanced, with medical devices makers Resmed RMD.AX and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corp FPH.AX rising 0.7% and 1.1%, respectively.
Tech stocks gained 0.9%, with software maker Xero Ltd XRO.AX rising 2.5%.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 was also trading flat, as losses in financials offset gains among utility stocks.