(Reuters) - Australian shares closed flat on Monday as losses in materials and banking stocks offset positive sentiment stemming from easing U.S.-China trade tensions, while the healthcare index rose to a record high on an extended rally in CSL Ltd.
The S&P/ASX 200 index <.AXJO> fell 2.90 points to 6,084.5 at the close of trade. The benchmark declined 0.1 percent on Friday.
Banks fell, dragging on the benchmark. Top lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia <CBA.AX> declined 0.6 percent to its lowest since Sept. 2016, while Westpac Banking Corp <WBC.AX> dipped 0.7 percent to a three-week low.
Materials stocks also traded lower as China's Dalian iron ore futures fell more than 3 percent. [IRONORE/]
Global miner BHP <BHP.AX> slipped 0.4 percent and rival Rio Tinto Ltd <RIO.AX> slid 0.9 percent.
But biotherapeutics developer CSL Ltd <CSL.AX> rose to its highest level ever after raising its annual profit outlook on Friday.
Positive sentiment from CSL spilled over to the broader sector, with the Australian healthcare index <.AXHJ> rising 1.4 percent to a record high.
In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index <.NZ50> fell 0.5 percent or 41.61 points to finish the session at 8,615.72.
Consumer staples led the decline, with heavyweight a2 Milk Company Ltd <ATM.NZ> dipping 2.3 percent, while Comvita Ltd <CVT.NZ> slumped 8 percent to a nine-month low.
Health products producer Comvita said that talks with an unnamed third party for a possible takeover of the company have ended without a deal due to a "considerable distance" between the parties on price.
(Reporting by Aditya Soni in Bengaluru; Editing by Eric Meijer)
