Australian shares pared some of their early losses to close marginally higher, hurt by financials after the Reserve Bank of Australia held its cash rate at a record low of 1.5 percent. The S&P/ASX 200 index nudged up 0.1 percent or 5.4 points to 5,484 at the close of trade. Shares in three of the "Big Four" banks in Australia weakened, while Australia and New Zealand Banking Group ended 0.3 percent up.
Plumbing solutions provider Reliance World-wide was the biggest loser on the S&P/ASX 200 index, slackening to a three week low following research-firm Deutsche Bank's price target downgrade. Dacian Gold was among the biggest losers on the metals index, falling as much as 6.6 percent. New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index eased 0.27 percent or 20.03 points to finish the session at 7,352.5, with utilities underperforming the sector.