* Banks lead benchmark lower on new capital requirements
* Iron ore outlook boosts miners
* Tempered bets on Fed rate cut puts pressure on gold stocks
By Aditya Soni
July 9 (Reuters) - Australian shares slipped on Tuesday as banks fell on new capital requirements for the sector, outpacing miners buoyed by a positive outlook for iron ore prices.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO weakened 0.3% or 18.6 points to 6,653.6 by 0214 GMT. The benchmark dropped 1.2% on Monday.
The Australian Prudential (LON:PRU) Regulation Authority (APRA) said on Tuesday it will raise capital requirements for banks by 3 percentage points of risk-weighted assets. increase was less than originally proposed, but investors pushed shares of the "Big Four" banks down 0.5%-0.9%.
"Banks will get no respite from the final rules, as more expensive capital instruments replace senior unsecured issuance," Fitch Ratings said in a note.
Investors avoided risk assets ahead of U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's testimony on Wednesday and Thursday, which could provide further clues on monetary policy.
Solid U.S. job growth in June has reduced expectations that the Fed will cut interest rates by 50 basis points when it meets at the end of July.
That has also weighed on gold prices, putting pressure on Australian miners.
Newcrest Mining Ltd NCM.AX dropped to more than a one-week low and was on track for its third straight losing session.
Healthcare stocks .AXHJ also declined, with Australia's largest drugmaker CSL Ltd CSL.AX down 1%.
The benchmark's slide was restrained by iron ore miners.
Rating agency S&P raised its iron ore price forecasts for 2019, 2020 and 2021 as it expected a prolonged hit to supply from the Vale VALE3.SA dam disaster in January. Metals Group Ltd FMG.AX , whose stock has more than doubled in 2019, was trading 1.8% higher.
Mining giant BHP Group BHP.AX saw its best day in nearly two weeks, while peer Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) Ltd RIO.AX posted its biggest intraday gain since July 2.
In New Zealand, broad-based losses pushed the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 0.6% or 60.96 points lower to 10,545.02.
Banks were under pressure on this side of the Tasman Sea as well, with local-listings of Westpac Banking Corp WBC.NZ and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group ANZ.NZ down 0.7% and 0.6%, respectively.