* Aussie shares slip on banks weakness
* Materials and health care stocks cap losses
* NZ firms on utilities
By Aditya Soni
July 13 (Reuters) - Australian shares ticked down on Friday as weakness in banks outweighed gains in health care stocks, while materials firmed on the back of higher commodity prices.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO slipped 0.2 percent or 9.70 points to 6,258600 by 0200 GMT. The benchmark firmed 0.9 percent on Thursday and was on track for a weekly fall of about 0.3 percent.
Banks set the bearish trend on Friday and accounted for half of the losses on the main index.
"There's no particular catalyst for that other than the fact that they've rallied rather strongly over the last couple of weeks," said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets.
Financial stocks .AXFJ had gained more than four percent in June. They remain in positive territory this month taking a battering in first quarter from revelations of serious misconduct at the powerful Royal Commission inquiry into financial services.
Top lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia CBA.AX dipped 1.1 percent and was the biggest drag on the main index, while Westpac Banking Corp WBC.AX dropped 1.2 percent.
Health care and materials stocks firmed, braking the benchmark's slide.
A jump in Chinese iron ore futures coupled with a recovery in base metal prices lifted materials stocks.
Global miner BHP BHP.AX jumped 0.6 percent and was the biggest boost to the benchmark, while rival Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) Ltd RIO.AX firmed 0.7 percent.
Indonesian state-owned miner PT Inalum plans to acquire the Indonesian unit of Rio Tinto RIO.AXRIO.L , which holds a 40 percent participating interest in Grasberg, the world's second-biggest copper mine, for $3.5 billion. care stocks .AXHJ posted strong gains after climbing to their highest level in the previous session. The sector, which has significant exposure to the U.S. market, has benefited from a lower Aussie dollar AUD=D3 .
The Aussie dollar has been on defensive in the past few sessions as Australia's dependence Asia, exports and commodities left it hostage to fallout from the China-U.S. trade dispute. firm CSL Ltd CSL.AX scaled as much as 1.1 percent to a record high, while bionic ear maker Cochlear Ltd COH.AX firmed 2.4 percent to three-week high.
Across the Tasman Sea New Zealand's shares rose slightly, with the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 ticking up 0.2 percent or 19.73 points to 9,005.20.
The benchmark was on track to lose 0.9 percent for the week, its biggest fall since April.
Utilities stocks led the gains, with Contact Energy Ltd CEN.NZ rising 1 percent, its biggest intraday percentage in more than a week, while Infratil Ltd IFL.NZ jumped 2.4 percent.