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By John Biju

Aug 7 (Reuters) - Australian shares dipped on Thursday as investors booked profits after two record-setting sessions and shifted focus to next week's peak earnings season.

The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO finished 0.1% lower at 8,831.40 points after the benchmark posted record closes on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Shares had rallied in the past two sessions as investors priced in high likelihood of a rate cut from the Reserve Bank of Australia next week and the U.S. Federal Reserve in September.

Focus now turns to earnings of some of the biggest companies in Australia next week, with major banks including Commonwealth Bank of Australia $(CBA)$, Westpac and ANZ Group due to report their results.

Financial stocks .AXFJ declined 0.3% with CBA CBA.AX and National Australia Bank NAB.AX slipping 0.5% and 0.4%, respectively, while ANZ Group ANZ.AX rose 0.3%.

Today's move seems most likely just a short-term blip and investors seem to be squaring up for August earnings season, locking in some profits, said Justin Lin, an investment analyst at Global X ETFs.

"With company fundamentals back in focus, macro headwinds may actually temporarily take a back seat."

CBA will report its annual results on August 13 while Westpac and ANZ Group are due to report quarterly results on August 14 and 15, respectively.

"Expecting a little soft results from the banks as their margin will continue to be under pressure, and limited ability to deliver more capital return," said Jun Bei Liu, the founder and a portfolio manager at Ten Cap.

Apart from banks, the result season will be good as the economy has been resilient and inflationary pressure is falling, Liu said.

Healthcare stocks .AXHJ declined 1.2% with CSL CSL.AX declining 1.5%.

Capping losses on the benchmark, mining stocks .AXMM rose 0.3% while gold stocks .AXGD climbed 1.2%.

Bourse operator ASX ASX.AX slumped 8.6% after it warned of elevated operating costs in fiscal 2026 tied to an inquiry by the domestic corporate regulator.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 edged 0.1% higher to 12,8871.10 points.

(Reporting by John Biju in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)

((John.Biju@thomsonreuters.com;))

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