Australian shares edge lower as miners retreat, RBA decision looms

Nov 2 (Reuters) - Australian shares edged lower on Monday as miners' losses outweighed bank gains, with investors bracing for a possible fifth rate hike this year. The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.2% to 8,894.10 by 2343 GMT. The benchmark rose 1.3% last week.

Miners fell 1.5%, as sector heavyweights came under pressure from the recent weakness in iron ore and copper prices.BHP slid 1.3%. Rio Tinto fell 1.4%, extending Friday's losses after it reported that a seismic event temporarily disrupted underground mining at its Oyu Tolgoi copper mine in Mongolia. Gold sub-index dropped 2.8% after bullion fell to a one-year low in the previous session.

Consumer staples dropped 1.9%, after falling 5% last week, with major grocers and Coles down around 3%. Among the few bright spots were financials, which rose 0.5%, helped by a 1% advance by Westpac. The lender reported a marginal rise in its full-year profit, supported by healthy growth in deposits and lending while mortgage demand slowed.

The remaining three of the big four banks posted gains of 0.2% to 0.5%. The high-yielding sector recouped most of its 7% August-September losses last month as investors sought safety amid a global tech rout and rate worries. Technology stocks declined 1.5%, tracking a sharp drop in the Nasdaq on Friday amid renewed concerns over heavy AI spending.

The potential for still higher domestic borrowing costs continued to weigh on sentiment. Above-target inflation and Governor Michele Bullock's hawkish comments last week have led many economists to shift their forecasts to a rate hike at Tuesday's policy meeting. All but two of 32 economists polled by Reuters now expect the cash rate to rise to 4.85%.

Meanwhile, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 1.3% to 12,922.20.(Reporting by Shruti Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)