* Aussie benchmark gains for 7th straight month
* Adelaide Brighton flags weak FY earnings, slumps 18%
* Energy stocks gain for 9th consecutive session (Updates to close)
July 31 (Reuters) - Australian shares fell on Wednesday, led by losses in financial and construction firms, as investors booked profits a day after the index hit a record high.
Fresh Sino-U.S. trade tensions and caution ahead of a U.S. Federal Reserve policy decision later in the day also dampened appetite for riskier assets.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO closed down 0.5% or 32.5 points at 6,812.60, after firming 0.3% to an all-time closing high on Tuesday.
The benchmark rose 2.9% in July, its seventh straight monthly gain.
Banks .AXFJ fell 0.8%, with the biggest lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia CBA.AX slipping 1.3% and Westpac Banking Corp WBC.AX retreating 1.2%.
Australian shares of British lender CYBG PLC CYB.AX sank 13.4% to an all-time low following a reported dip in mortgage loans and shrinking net interest margins. a trade threat from U.S. President Donald Trump to China also cast a pall on broader market sentiment.
The warning came as officials from both sides meet in Shanghai for the first round of talks after the world's biggest economies agreed to a tariff ceasefire at a G20 summit last month. stocks saw significant declines after sector bellwether Adelaide Brighton Ltd
However, a rally in oil prices supported energy stocks .AXEJ for a ninth consecutive session. The sub-index rose 1.7% this month. O/R
Oil Search Ltd OSH.AX rose 0.4% and Caltex Australia Ltd CTX.AX added 1.5%.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 closed down 0.2% at 10,857.75.
Auckland International Airport AIA.NZ lost 2% and utilities firm Meridian Energy MEL.NZ fell 1.2%/