Jan 28 (Reuters) - Australian shares struggled for direction on Tuesday, as losses in commodity and IT stocks countered gains in financials, while traders awaited local inflation data, due later in the week, to get clarity on the Reserve Bank of Australia's policy stance.

The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO was largely unchanged at 8,410.5, as of 2347 GMT. The market was closed on Monday for a holiday.

Traders are anticipating the fourth-quarter consumer price index report, due on Wednesday, to solidify market expectations that the Reserve Bank of Australia will cut borrowing costs to 4.10% in its Feb. 17-18 meeting. Those odds now stand at around 70%.

Australia's closely watched underlying inflation measure slowed to 3.2% in November from 3.5% in the prior month, data showed earlier this month.

Back on the bourse, heavyweight miners .AXMM slipped 0.2%.

Shares of Red Hawk Mining RHK.AX gained 46%, hitting a near four-year peak after bigger rival Fortescue FMG.AX said it would acquire the company in a A$254 million ($159.11 million) deal.

Energy stocks .AXEJ declined 1.3% after oil prices fell about 2% overnight. The sub-index hit its lowest since Jan. 2 and was on track for a fourth consecutive session of losses. O/R

Oil and gas giant Woodside Energy WDS.AX lost 0.9%, while smaller peer Santos STO.AX shed 0.4%.

IT stocks .AXIJ lost 1.4%, in tandem with their U.S. peers as a low-cost Chinese artificial intelligence model prompted a sell-off in U.S. chipmakers. .N

Tech firm NEXTDC NXT.AX slumped 8% in what could be its worst trading day since Nov. 10, 2020.

Bucking the trend, financials .AXFJ gained 0.4%, hitting their highest since Dec. 3. The "Big Four" banks rose between 0.5% and 0.7%.

Although lower interest rates are not beneficial for banks, they boost credit growth and borrowers' mortgage paying capacity.

In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 fell 0.6% to 12,925.37, hitting its lowest since Jan. 15.

($1 = 1.5964 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Rajasik Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

((Rajasik.Mukherjee@thomsonreuters.com))

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