Banks and miners drag Australian shares lower 

Oct 1 (Reuters) - Australian shares fell more than 1% on Thursday, with financials and miners leading broad-based losses across all sectors, even as softer-than-expected inflation data released a day earlier eased concerns about further near-term interest rate hikes.

The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO lost 1.3% to 8,671.60, as of 0055 GMT.

The benchmark closed 0.9% higher on Wednesday, notching its best session in eight weeks, after the August inflation print came in slightly below forecast and lowered expectations of further monetary policy tightening.

Meanwhile, data showed Australian home prices fell for a sixth consecutive month in September along with a slowdown in housing credit growth.

A sustained slump in housing turnover has broader implications for the economy, ranging from real estate services to tradespeople and construction.

In the current session, banks .AXFJ fell as much as 1.8%, on track for their biggest loss in six weeks.

All the 'Big Four' banks lost between 1.2% and 2.1%, with the country's third-largest home lender and top business lender National Australia Bank NAB.AX shedding the most.

Real estate stocks .AXRE, consumer staples .AXSJ and discretionary stocks .AXDJ were off 1%, 1.1% and 0.9% respectively.

Gold miners .AXGD weakened as much as 2%, on track for their worst session in a week, as bullion prices lost ground GOL/ while the broader mining gauge .AXMM was down 0.4%.

Northern Star Resources NST.AX slipped 1.9% and Evolution Mining EVN.AX lost 2.4%.

Mining giant Rio Tinto RIO.AX secured agreements with the Australian and Tasmanian governments to keep operations at its Bell Bay Aluminium smelter running till 2031. The company's shares fell 1.6% in tandem with the sub-index's move.

Meanwhile, the New Zealand benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 fell 0.6% to 13,757.99.