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* ANZ falls for the eighth straight day
* Fonterra slightly lower after NZ milk production falls inFeb
By Susan Mathew
April 4 (Reuters) - Australian shares eased for a fourthconsecutive day on Wednesday, dampened by weakness in financialstocks, although gains in the defensive healthcare sector cappedoverall losses.
The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 5.7 points to 5,747.2 by0225 GMT. The benchmark closed 0.1 percent lower on Tuesday.
Financials are under pressure as they are a currency proxy,said Mathan Somasundaram, market portfolio strategist, BlueOcean Equities.
"The market is beginning to see a bounce in the
The Aussie is hovering near four-month lows, hurtby the outlook for global growth amid escalating
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group posted itseighth straight losing session, down 1 percent, while otherlenders among the 'Big Four' fell between 0.4 percent and 0.7percent.
Mining giant BHP was marginally higher after havingfallen as much as 0.4 percent. Iron ore on the
Weaker bullion hit gold stocks with Newcrest Miningdropping 1.3 percent.
Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals, however,edged higher. Fortescue saw a rating upgrade to 'buy' fromDeutsche Bank.
CSL Ltd led gains among healthcare stocks, risingas much as 2 percent, its best one-day gain in more than threeweeks.
"I think that (healthcare) is pretty much a safety play atthis point, as most of the stocks in the healthcare sector likeCSL, Cochlear are way overvalued, if you look at it onhistorical terms," Somasundaram added.
Cochlear, however, was slightly lower for the day.
The biggest power producer in
Dairy company a2 Milk and
The world's biggest dairy exporter Fonterrawas marginally lower after it said its
For more individual stocks activity click on(Reporting by Susan Mathew in Bengaluru; Additional reportingby Ambar Warrick;Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
