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Oct 26 (Reuters) - Australian shares closed lower on Wednesday after dropping to a near one-month low earlier in the day, dragged down by financials and consumer staples after retail giant Wesfarmers took a hit on dour quarterly sales.
The S&P/ASX 200 index (xjo) finished 1.53 percent, or 83.029 points, lower at 5,359.8. The benchmark lost as much as 1.88 percent, to hit its lowest since Sep. 22, 2016.
Shares in Wesfarmers Ltd (WES) ended 5.7 percent down after the company's first quarter sales undershot market expectations. Same-store food and liquor sales at its Coles supermarket chain rose 1.8 per cent in the three months ending September, down on growth of 3.3 per cent in the June quarter.
Oil majors were also hit hard after an overnight drop in oil prices, with Woodside Petroleum (WPL) closing 1.87 percent lower, and Oil Search (OSH) off 3.01 percent, driving the benchmark energy index .AXEJ to close 2.45 percent lower.
The financial index .AXFJ dipped 1.32 percent, with all four "Big Banks" down 0.9 percent to 1.4 percent, as investors were jittery ahead of National Australia Bank's (NAB) earnings on Thursday which might see the bank cut its dividend.
Another highlight of the day was Ardent Leisure (AAD), that posted its worst day in more than 1-1/2 years after confirming four fatalities at its theme park in Queensland on Tuesday.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index (nz50) closed at its lowest in 3 months, shedding 1.5 percent, or 106.67 points, at 6,896.2.
The benchmark was pulled down by industrials and healthcare stocks, with Auckland International Airport Ltd (AIA) and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corp Ltd (FPH) posting the biggest losses on the index, each down 5.22 percent and 1.64 percent respectively.
