Australia shares soft on lower Wall Street; NZ rises

By Krishna V Kurup

March 21 (Reuters) - Australian shares were tepid on Tuesday, taking their cue from Wall Street, which fell on concerns that President Donald Trump's promises of tax cuts will take longer than expected.

The U.S. stock market's rally since Trump's election has faltered in recent weeks as investors fret about a lack of clarity on his proposals to reform taxes and cut regulation. .N

The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO was down 0.1 percent at 5,774.40 by 0104 GMT.

"The overall driver is just a weaker lead from U.S. markets and probably an overall situation where there's not a lot of good news recently," said Ric Spooner, Chief Market Analyst at CMC Markets.

There is "pressure on some of the sectors, related to higher interest rates, with banks and the real estate sectors both down on speculation that there may be further tightening of lending standards towards debtors in the real estate markets." of the country's "Big Four" banks, National Australia Bank NAB.AX and Westpac Banking Corp WBC.AX , had raised interest rates on residential investments last week. and real estate stocks were the biggest drag on the index.

The ASX 200 financials index .AXFJ hit its lowest in two weeks, with Westpac Banking Corp and Commonwealth Bank of Australia CBA.AX falling 0.6 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively.

Real estate stocks Scentre Group SCG.AX shed 1.1 percent and Goodman Group Pty Ltd GMG.AX fell 0.9 percent.

Meanwhile, gold stocks .AXGD jumped 1 percent as prices of the precious metal hit two-week highs due to the U.S. dollar hovering near a six-week low, extending last week's weakness following recent interest-rate guidance from the U.S. Federal Reserve FRX/ GOL/

Gold is sensitive to falling interest rates, which reduces the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.

Newcrest Mining Ltd NCM.AX , Evolution Mining Ltd EVN.AX and St Barbara Ltd SBM.AX gained between 0.9 percent and 2.8 percent.

Airline operator Virgin Australia VAH.AX gained 1.3 percent, after it said it would run five return flights a week between the city of Melbourne and Hong Kong. and catering services provider Spotless Group Holdings Ltd SPO.AX jumped 45.5 percent after Downer EDI DOW.AX made an offer to buy Spotless shares it does not already own for A$1.27 bln. in Downer were in a trading halt.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 rose 0.3 percent, or 23.12 points, to 7,080.17.

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Material and consumer staples drove the index higher, with Fletcher Building Ltd FBU.NZ rising 1.5 percent, while a2 Milk Company Ltd ATM.NZ gained 4.5 percent.

For more individual stocks activity click on STXBZ