Australia shares ease for 4th day as financials drag; NZ higher

* 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 U.S. dollarand the Aussie dollar is falling, which means you'll seeexposure reduction by global investors in Australia, and thathits the big banks."

The Aussie is hovering near four-month lows, hurtby the outlook for global growth amid escalating U.S.-Chinatrade tensions.

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 Daliancommodities exchange snapped a five-day gaining streak onTuesday, and was 1.3 percent lower at 0225 GMT.

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 Australia, AGL Energy, rose as much as 0.3 percent, before trading flat afterAlinta Energy, owned by Hong Kong's Chow Tai Fook Enterprises,expressed an interest in acquiring its coal-fired Liddell PowerStation in New South Wales state.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.2percent, or 16.27 points, to 8,346.2.

Dairy company a2 Milk and Auckland InternationalAirport pushed up the index the most. A2 was up 3percent, while Auckland edged 0.8 percent higher.

The world's biggest dairy exporter Fonterrawas marginally lower after it said its New Zealand milkoutput in February fell 2 percent.

For more individual stocks activity click on(Reporting by Susan Mathew in Bengaluru; Additional reportingby Ambar Warrick;Editing by Jacqueline Wong)