(Updates to close)
Nov 24 (Reuters) - Australian shares ended steady on Thursday in lacklustre trade, as the gains from the financial sector were offset by falls in metals and materials stocks.
The S&P/ASX 200 index (xjo) closed 0.01 percent lower, or 0.642 points, to 5,484 at the close of trade.
Brick maker Boral Ltd (BLD) led the losses sinking 12 percent, after it issued A$1.58 bln in new shares to pay for the buyout of U.S. rival Headwaters Inc
. Gold extended losses from the 9-1/2 month plunge on Wednesday, due to the strengthening dollar, sending Evolution Mining down 5.1 percent.
The country's biggest gold producer Newcrest Mining, (NCM) down as much as 4.2 percent, and the ASX All Ordinaries Gold Index .AXGD hit a five-month low.
The S&P ASX Financials index (xjo), on the other hand, posted its fifth straight session of gains to stay at a 10-month high.
Australia's no.3 lender by assets Westpac Banking Corp (WBC) and the country's third-largest bank by market value, and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group the smallest of the "Big Four", (ANZ) were the biggest contributors to the financial sector's gains, up around 0.5 percent.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index (nz50) inched up 0.46 percent or 31.8 points to a more than two week high to finish the session at 6,883.250.
The index extended gains to a second session, helped by telecom stocks, including Spark New Zealand Ltd (SPK), up more than 1 percent.
Healthcare stocks gained, led by a more than 2 percent rise in medical devices maker Fisher and Paykel Healthcare Corp, (FPH) which bounced back from its 10-month low on Wednesday.
