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Oct 28 (Reuters) - Australian shares ended little changed on Monday, with the resource sector buoyed by expectations Washington and Beijing were close to finalising a trade deal, which helped outweigh weakness in financials.
Officials from the United States and China said they were "close to finalising" some parts of a trade agreement after high-level telephone discussions on Friday.
However, encouraging signals in the past have proved short-lived and continuing uncertainties kept investors cautious.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO closed at 6,740.7, its highest since the start of the month. The benchmark had firmed 0.7% on Friday.
Global miner BHP Group BHP.AX and iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group FMG.AX were the biggest gainers, up 1.1% and 2.2%, respectively.
China is Australia's largest trading partner, with miners especially exposed given China's huge appetite for commodities to meet its growth needs.
Energy stocks also supported the market, despite a drop in oil prices.
Woodside Petroleum Ltd WPL.AX , the country's largest oil and gas company, traded marginally higher, while smaller rival Beach Energy BPT.AX climbed 2.1%.
Fuel refiner Viva Energy Group Ltd VEA.AX rose as much as 4.1% after posting a sharp increase in quarterly refining margins from the preceding quarter.
Among the banks, Commonwealth Bank of Australia CBA.AX , National Australia Bank NAB.AX and Westpac Banking Corp WBC.AX all ended lower, while Australia and New Zealand Banking Group ANZ.AX was flat.
An Australian court found that Westpac staff inappropriately gave personal financial advice when marketing pension funds, overturning an earlier ruling. metals and electronics recycler Sims Metal Management SGM.AX was down 8.8% after forecasting an underlying core earnings loss for the first half due to weakness in scrap prices. Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 remained closed for Labour Day. The index closed 0.4% lower on Friday.