July 7 (Reuters) - Australian shares were little changed on Monday, with losses in miners and gold stocks offsetting gains in healthcare stocks, as caution prevailed ahead of the local central bank's policy this week and U.S. President Donald Trump's July 9 tariff deadline.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO was flat at 8,601.3 points as of 0042 GMT. The benchmark had ended Friday 0.1% higher at 8,603 points, a record close.
The U.S. will notify about a dozen countries of higher tariff rates starting Monday, Trump said last week, with the higher rates scheduled to take effect on August 1.
"Expect plenty more headlines this week, both positive and negative, as countries negotiate," analysts at ANZ said.
Australia faces a 10% duty on all goods entering the United States, matching Washington's baseline tariff on imports even as U.S. exports to Australia are tariff-free.
Meanwhile, all eyes are on the Reserve Bank of Australia $(RBA)$, which will announce its cash rate decision on Tuesday. Markets are pricing in a 99.7% chance of a 25-basis-points cut. 0#AUDIRPR
On the local bourse, gold stocks .AXGD shed 1.5% after losing 3.1% earlier in the session. GOL/
Northern Star Resources NST.AX slipped nearly 6% after the miner said gold sales at its Kalgoorlie project were lower than its revised outlook. Evolution Mining EVN.AX fell 1.4%.
Energy stocks .AXEJ declined 0.2% as oil tumbled. O/R Woodside Energy WDS.AX lost 0.5%.
Miners .AXMM dropped 0.2%, tracking a fall in copper prices, while rate-sensitive financials .AXFJ were down 0.3%.
Bucking the trend, healthcare stocks .AXHJ rose 0.8%, with heavyweight CSL CSL.AX adding 1.3%.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 fell 0.1% to 12,759.70. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand is expected to keep interest rates unchanged on July 9, according to a Reuters poll.
(Reporting by Roshan Thomas in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy)
((Roshan.Thomas@thomsonreuters.com))
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