Corrects to Thursday from Monday in the first paragraph of July 24 story

By Nikita Maria Jino

July 24 (Reuters) - Australian shares edged lower on Thursday, dragged down by Macquarie after its lacklustre quarterly results, while a rally in biotech heavyweight CSL helped limit the decline.

The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO lost 0.3% to close at 8,709.40 points, after gaining 0.7% on Wednesday.

Financials .AXFJ fell 0.3%, with Macquarie, holding 3% of the broader benchmark, declining 5.1% in its weakest session in three months after reporting a drop in first-quarter net profit.

Sentiment was further hit by the resignation of its finance chief and concerns over potential shareholder backlash over management pay.

The "overall result appears a bit softer relative to expectations", UBS analysts said, noting that the country's top investment bank's exposure to commodities and reliance on asset sales had "decreased earnings visibility".

Healthcare stocks .AXHJ, on the other hand, advanced 1% to a five-month high, bolstered by a 1.5% gain in CSL CSL.AX, which accounts for 5% of the Australian index.

The biotech major, with significant U.S. exposure, has climbed nearly 13% so far in July and is headed for its strongest month in nearly two years.

Henry Jennings, a senior market analyst at Marcus Today newsletter, attributed the gains to investors exiting overvalued stocks and rotating into defensive plays.

"CSL has been left behind and there is a thought the selloff was overdone. Brokers are still positive on it and we have heard no disastrous news coming from the United States," Jennings said.

Miners .AXMM closed flat on the day. Fortescue FMG.AX jumped 4.3% after the world's fourth-largest iron ore producer reported record fourth-quarter shipments on lower costs. Index heavyweight BHP BHP.AX slipped 0.6%.

Among individual stocks, Bapcor BAP.AX slumped to its lowest in five years to become the benchmark's worst performer, after the auto-parts provider said its second-half trading performance fell short of expectations.

In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 ended unchanged at 12,805.13 points.

(Reporting by Nikita Maria Jino in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy)

((Nikita.Jino@thomsonreuters.com;))

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