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Reuters
Reuters
Business

Australia shares end flat on UK election uncertainty; New Zealand falls for fourth day

An investor is reflected in a window as he looks at boards displaying stock prices at the Australian Securities Exchange in central Sydney, Australia, August 6, 2015. REUTERS/David Gray

(Reuters) - Australian shares ended little changed on Friday as no clear winner emerged from Britain's parliamentary election.

The S&P/ASX 200 index <.AXJO> was up 0.02 percent, or 1.023 points to 5,677.8 at close of trade. For the week, it lost 1.9 percent, its first such loss in three weeks.

With 633 out of 650 seats declared in the UK elections, the Conservatives had won 308 seats and were therefore no longer able to reach the 326-mark they would need to command a parliamentary majority. Labour had won 258 seats.

Among Aussie stocks, miners BHP <BHP.AX> and Rio Tinto <RIO.AX> contributed most to gains on the benchmark, rising 1 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively, with Rio hitting its highest close in over a week. [MET/L]

Gains in Qantas Airways <QAN.AX> of 3.3 percent also buoyed the benchmark.

National Australia Bank <NAB.AX>, Woodside Petroleum <WPL.AX> and Telstra <TLS.AX> shares were the biggest drags on the index, falling between 0.7 percent and 2.3 percent.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index <.NZ50> ended 0.3 percent, or 22.56 points, to 7,436.1, posting its fourth straight session of losses.

On the week, the index lost 0.9 percent, its worst week since late March.

Industrial stocks led the falls as Auckland International Airport <AIA.NZ> and Port of Tauranga <POT.NZ> shed 1.4 percent and 1.6 percent.

Australia's stock market will be closed on Monday for a public holiday and will resume trading on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Susan Mathew in Bengaluru; Editing by Kim Coghill)

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