(Reuters) - Australian shares firmed on Thursday, led by a rally in financials after National Australia Bank Ltd <NAB.AX> reported a 3 percent rise in first-quarter unaudited cash profit.
The S&P/ASX 200 index <.AXJO> rose 0.24 percent or 13.900 points to close at 5,890.700. The benchmark added 0.8 percent on Wednesday.
Shares of NAB, the country's fourth-biggest bank by market value, rose 2.3 percent for its biggest percentage gain in nearly seven months.
It posted unaudited cash earnings of A$1.65 billion ($1.29 billion) for the three months ended Dec. 31.
The Australian financial index <.AXFJ> added 0.8 points, and accounted for most of the S&P/ASX 200's gains.
AMP Ltd <AMP.AX>, Australia's largest wealth manager, was also among the top gainers as it surged 3.6 percent after more than doubling its full-year underlying earnings.
Meanwhile, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group <ANZ.AX> rose 0.8 percent after saying it would close its retail banking operation in Laos to focus on institutional banking there.
Materials stocks fell, tracking a downturn in global commodity prices. The Australian metals and mining index <.AXMM> dipped about 1 percent, led by miners BHP <BHP.AX> and Rio Tinto <RIO.AX>.
Rio Tinto slid nearly 1 percent despite announcing a record dividend payout for 2017 on Wednesday.
New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 index <.NZ50> slid 0.2 percent or 17.59 points to close at 8,177.14.
Telecom stocks and industrials led the decline on the benchmark, with Spark New Zealand Ltd <SPK.NZ> dipping 1.4 percent and Auckland International Airport Ltd <AIA.NZ> falling to its lowest in about 3-1/2 week low.
New Zealand's central bank kept interest rates steady at their record low on Thursday and said volatility in equity markets this week was a warning sign that global markets are nervous about the risk of higher inflation and rising interest rates.
(Reporting by Aditya Soni in Bengaluru; Editing by Eric Meijer)
