Corrects paragraph 3 to say RBA Governor spoke on Monday, not Tuesday

Oct 29 (Reuters) - Australian shares edged lower on Wednesday, as losses in healthcare stocks outweighed gains in miners, while local traders remained cautious ahead of third-quarter consumer price data, due later in the day.

The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO slipped 0.1% to 9,002.10 points by 2330 GMT. The benchmark ended 0.48% lower on Tuesday.

After the bell on Monday, Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Michele Bullock said that an increase of 0.9% or more in core inflation in the third quarter could lean heavily against a rate cut at the Reserve Bank of Australia's next meeting.

Markets have pared back expectations for a rate cut, with investors now pricing in about a 45.4% chance of a 25-basis-point reduction at the RBA's meeting next week, ahead of the release of inflation data later on Wednesday.

On the local bourse, healthcare stocks .AXHJ declined 1.8%, dragged for a second consecutive day by a 3.8% fall in CSL's CSL.AX shares after the firm announced delays to the U.S. spinoff of its Seqirus vaccine division on Tuesday.

Banks .AXFJ edged 0.1% lower, with two out of the "Big Four" lenders falling around 0.4%, while Commonwealth Bank of Australia CBA.AX and ANZ Group ANZ.AX rose 0.3% and 0.4% respectively.

Miners .AXMM, however, gained 0.6% as iron ore prices strengthened post China's recent proposal of rules placing limitations on steelmaking capacity. IRONORE/

Mining giants Rio Tinto RIO.AX and BHP BHP.AX rose 0.7% each.

Among company news, grocer Woolworths' WOW.AX shares slipped 0.3% after the firm posted a slight rise in its first-quarter sales, with analysts at Jefferies noting that "the final six weeks of Q1 were not better than the first eight weeks."

Meanwhile, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 rose 0.4% to 13,454.95 points.

(Reporting by Shivangi Lahiri in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)

((shivangi.lahiri@thomsonreuters.com))