Aug 26 (Reuters) - Australian shares edged lower on Tuesday, weighed down by miners after Fortescue posted its smallest annual profit in six years, but gains in consumer staples and heavyweight financials helped limit the losses.
By 0040 GMT, the S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO retreated 0.3% to 8,942.10, just 112.4 points below the record high hit on Monday.
Fortescue FMG.AX fell as much as 2.7% after reporting its smallest full-year profit in six years on lower iron ore prices.
The stock's decline weighed on the broader mining index .AXMM, which fell 0.6%. BHP Group BHP.AX and Rio Tinto RIO.AX lost 0.9% and 0.6%, respectively.
Healthcare stocks .AXHJ dropped more than 1%, with biotech firm CSL CSL.AX shedding 1.3%.
Technology stocks .AXIJ also declined 1%, tracking Wall Street's overnight losses. .N
Bucking the trend and capping losses on the benchmark index, consumer staples .AXSJ rose as much as 3.4% to the highest in almost a year, led by Australia's no.2 supermarket chain operator Coles COL.AX.
The stock climbed as much as 8.2% to become the benchmark index's top gainer.
The company reported a 4.9% rise in sales at its main profit driver, the supermarkets division, for the first eight weeks of fiscal 2026. It was estimated to grow 3.6% in the first six months, according to a Visible Alpha consensus.
Coles' larger peer Woolworths WOW.AX, due to report full-year results on Wednesday, gained 2.2%.
Financial stocks .AXFJ rose 0.1%, with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia CBA.AX and the National Australia Bank NAB.AX adding 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively. ANZ Group ANZ.AX fell 0.2%.
Abacus Storage King ASK.AX slipped as much as 12% to a more than four-month low, after a consortium led by South African billionaire Nathan Kirsh and U.S.-based Public Storage PSA.N withdrew the A$2.17 billion ($1.41 billion) takeover offer for the firm.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 advanced 0.1% to 12,097.98 points.
($1 = A$1.5389)
(Reporting by John Biju in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy)
((john.biju@thomsonreuters.com))
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