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By Atharva Singh and Rajasik Mukherjee

Oct 23 (Reuters) - Australian shares reversed early losses to finish a few pips higher on Thursday as a rally in energy stocks and fresh investment in Woodside Energy's Louisiana LNG project helped manage losses in BHP and major banks.

The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO ended largely flat at 9,032.80 points. The index fell 0.7% in the previous session owing to a rush out of gold miners.

The energy sector .AXEJ climbed 3.2% on Thursday, its highest in nearly a month, buoyed by a sharp 3% jump in oil prices after the U.S. imposed sanctions on several Russian oil suppliers and Indian buyers started reviewing their Russian oil purchases. O/R

Sector heavyweight Woodside Energy WDS.AX jumped 4.3% after securing fresh investment at its Louisiana LNG project. Its smaller peer Santos STO.AX also advanced 2.2% to mark its best one-day gain in more than four months.

On the other hand, financials .AXFJ fell about 0.8% as investors booked profits after three straight sessions of gains. All of the 「Big Four」 banks ended in the red, with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia CBA.AX losing 1.4%.

「After the benchmark index touched record highs earlier this week, investors are rotating out of recent outperformers and turning defensive amid persistent geopolitical noise and an uncertain policy outlook,」 said Hebe Chen, market analyst at Vantage Markets.

Gold prices extended losses after Wednesday’s sharp sell-off, though gold miners .AXGD staged a partial recovery by finishing 1.5% higher. Northern Star Resources NST.AX jumped 2.3% after the miner reported steady September-quarter production. GOL/

The broader mining sub-index .AXMM edged up 0.4%, but gains were capped by a 1.2% drop in BHP BHP.AX after its CEO warned the company may have to make 「difficult decisions」 about its Australian metallurgical coal operations without regulatory support.

Chen said the comments could 「fuel worries about potential restructuring or asset rationalisation」 at the mining giant.

Fortescue FMG.AX rose as much as 2.7% after reporting record first-quarter iron ore shipments and maintaining FY26 guidance.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 rose 0.5% to finish at 13,377.10 points.

(Reporting by Atharva Singh & Rajasik Mukherjee in Bengaluru;Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)

((Atharva.Singh@thomsonreuters.com; Rajasik.Mukherjee@thomsonreuters.com))

      
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