SYDNEY/WELLINGTON: Australian shares fell 0.5 percent on Friday, coming off a two-week high touched in the previous session.

The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 26 points to 4,966.1 by 0123 GMT. The benchmark rose 1.2 percent on Thursday when prices hit a two-week high of 4,992. Financials led the Australian benchmark lower, with National Australia Bank and ANZ Bank both falling more than 1 percent.

The energy sector also fell, led by losses of Santos Ltd , which fell 5 percent after the Australian oil and gas producer Santos Ltd STO.AX, which rejected a A$7.1 billion ($5.04 billion) takeover last year, slid to a loss of A$2.7 billion in 2015.

New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.2 percent or 13 points to 6,124.07 on Friday. The biggest gainers were Chorus, up 4.9 percent.—Reuters