Aug 23 (Reuters) - Australian shares fell on Wednesday, hurt by losses in financial and healthcare stocks as disappointing full year results from Insurance Australia Group IAG.AX and Healthscope Ltd HSO.AX dampened sentiment for the sectors.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO fell 23.43 points, or 0.4 percent, to 5726.70 by 0247 GMT.
Financial and healthcare sectors accounted for more than half the losses with the financial index .AXFJ dropping 0.6 percent.
Insurance Australia Group, the country's biggest general insurer by market share, tumbled 10.1 percent to its lowest in almost four months.
The insurer on Wednesday said its underlying insurance margin fell by 2.1 percentage points to 11.9 percent, due to higher claim costs in its motor businesses in Australia and New Zealand and losses in commercial classes. operator Healthscope Ltd HSO.AX was the biggest loser among healtcare stocks tumbling 17.8 percent to a record low after the company reported a 9.2 percent drop in full year net profit. are pretty much results-driven. The big negative results have been IAG (LON:ICAG) and Healthscope. Apart from that, there isn't much in the market," said Mathan Somasundaram, a market portfolio strategist with Blue Ocean Equities
"We've been in a tight trading band for about three-four months, and we're still stuck in that until something happens in global macro".
The metals and mining index .AXMM fell 0.4 percent despite a 5 percent surge in Chinese iron ore futures which drove global mining giant BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) BHP.AX up more than 1.5 percent and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) RIO.AX up 1.2 percent. IRONORE/
The energy index .AXEJ climbed 1.4 percent to its highest in over two months, supported by overnight rise in oil prices.
Oil prices fell early on Wednesday, squeezed between concerns of oversupply, sparked by rising Libya output, and fears of reduced future investment in the industry. O/R
Australia's top power and gas retailer Origin Energy ORG.AX gained as much as 2.8 percent and Australia's biggest independent oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum WPL.AX climbed more than 1 percent.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 rose 19.62 points, or 0.25 percent, by 0118 GMT.
Dairy firm a2 Milk Company ATM.NZ clocked a record high, gaining nearly 6 percent, after the dairy company said its full-year profit nearly tripled in 2017 to hit its highest-ever level. Network Television SKT.NZ was the biggest drag on the index, falling 5.2 percent to a record low.
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