Updates to close

By Rajasik Mukherjee

Oct 24 (Reuters) - Australian shares closed largely flat on Thursday as gains in banks and healthcare stocks countered losses in miners, while Fortescue and Brambles declined as their quarterly updates disappointed investors.

The finance and commodities-heavy S&P/ASX 200 .AXJO edged 0.1% lower to end trade at 8,206.3. The benchmark index traded in a range of about 0.4% on either side of Wednesday's close.

Miners .AXMM fell 1%, hurt by falling iron ore prices due to firm supply and weak global steel market outlook. The sub-index hit its lowest level in two weeks. IRONORE/

Fortescue FMG.AX fell 3.2% after flagging rising costs across operations and a decline in realised prices.

BHP Group BHP.AX lost 0.7% while Rio Tinto RIO.AX shed 0.5%.

Rate-sensitive financials .AXFJ gained 0.6% with all the "Big Four" banks rising between 0.4% and 1.6%.

"I believe the RBA (Reserve Bank of Australia) will now follow the Fed (Federal Reserve) in their next move on interest rates....The reduction of interest rate will be a massive relief for Australian Banks that are fully loaded with property debt," said Brad Smoling, managing director at Smoling Stockbroking.

Healthcare stocks .AXHJ snapped a two-day losing streak to end 0.4% higher on the back of a stronger dollar. USD/

Shares of biotechnology firm CSL CSL.AX, Australia's priciest, rose 1%.

On the flip side, Brambles BXB.AX lost 1.8% after the Australian logistics firm reported flat growth in first-quarter volumes and sales below analysts' expectations.

Super Retail Group SUL.AX lost 5.4% on an "uncertain" outlook citing cost of living pressure on household budgets, while gold miner Northern Star Resources NST.AX fell as much as 3% after its quarterly gold sales declined.

Gold stocks .AXGD lost 1.8%, dragged down by a 6.4% decline in Newmont NEM.AX after its third-quarter profit missed analysts' estimates.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 rose 0.2% to finish the session at 12814.07.

(Reporting by Rajasik Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K)

((Rajasik.Mukherjee@thomsonreuters.com))

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