* Investors take profit after 7-day winning streak
* Index down after hitting near 7-month high in previous session
* Miners, healthcare & energy stocks lose most (Updates to close)
April 4 (Reuters) - Australian shares slipped on Thursday, with recent outperformers such as mining and healthcare stocks posting steep losses as investors booked profits after an impressive seven-day rally.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO ended down 0.8 percent or 52.2 points at 6,232.8. The benchmark rose 0.7 percent on Wednesday.
The index slipped from a near 7-month high scaled in the previous session, snapping its longest uninterrupted run of gains since October 2017.
"It does seems to be a bit of profit-taking on the basis that this a knee-jerk reaction out of the gates in trade today," said Kyle Rodda, market analyst at IG markets.
Miners .AXMM slipped 1 percent, with mining behemoths BHP Group Ltd BHP.AX and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) Ltd RIO.AX falling 1.2 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.
Iron ore prices extended their red-hot rally on declining shipments from Brazil and Australia amid higher Chinese demand, however, investors sold off shares to book a neat profit after the mining sub-index's over 7-year closing high in the previous session.
The world's fourth largest iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group FMG.AX slipped 1 percent, after a staggering near 20 percent gain in the last seven sessions.
Healthcare stocks .AXHJ also tumbled, with index heavyweight CSL Ltd CSL.AX shedding 1.7 percent, while Cochlear Ltd COH.AX and Resmed Inc RMD.AX fell 2.2 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively.
Financial stocks .AXFJ also felt the heat, with the top four banks falling between 0.2 and 0.8 percent. National Australia Bank NAB.AX fell most among them.
Insurers were among top losers, with Suncorp Group Ltd SUN.AX tumbling 2.2 percent and Insurance Australia Group Ltd IAG.AX shedding 1.8 percent.
Energy stocks .AXEJ slid, with heavyweight Woodside Petroleum Ltd WPL.AX falling 2.1 percent, while Santos Ltd STO.AX lost 2.5 percent.
Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 fell 0.47 percent or 46.66 points to finish the session at 9,892.60.
Contact Energy Ltd CEN.NZ was the top loser, slipping 2.7 percent while Spark New Zealand Ltd SPK.NZ dropped 1.6 percent.