Australian shares ended marginally higher on Wednesday as gains in the consumer and financial sectors offset losses in energy and materials stocks, which suffered from weak commodity prices. The S&P/ASX 200 index closed up 0.1 percent at 5,724.60 points, to follow on from a 0.2 percent gain on Tuesday.
Mining majors BHP and Rio Tinto, lost 0.4 percent and 0.7 percent respectively. BHP was also hit by a slump in oil prices, which suffered as rising output from Libya added to concerns about increasing US production undermining Opec-led production cuts. The financial index lost 9.2 percent on the month. New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index ended flat as gains in financials offset losses in consumer stocks.
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