Updates to market close

By Nikita Maria Jino

Dec 2 (Reuters) - Australian shares held steady on Monday, hovering near the record highs scaled last week, as investors worried about the fallout of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's tariff pledges on Chinese imports on the domestic mining sector.

The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO rose 0.1% to 8,447.90 points at close. It is now around 29 points below the all-time high touched on Nov. 28.

Miners .AXMM eked out marginal gains after advancing as much as 0.5% in early trade. Iron ore futures climbed on upbeat China factory data, although signs of faltering demand capped gains. IRONORE/

The resource-heavy Australian economy is reliant on exports of commodities, including iron ore, to its top consumer China and Trump's tariffs on Chinese imports threaten the demand of such commodities, which could adversely affect domestic miners.

"The overall impact (of tariffs) is expected to be negative," Junvum Kim, senior sales trader at Saxo Asia Pacific, said.

"If not negative, then some selling pressures on broad-based metals, especially base metals and ferrous metals."

Sector heavyweights BHP Group BHP.AX and Rio Tinto RIO.AX gained 0.4% and 0.9%, respectively.

Gold stocks .AXGD slipped 1.6%, tracking a fall in bullion prices. GOL/

However, De Grey Mining DEG.AX soared around 29% to its highest in more than 16 years on receiving a buyout offer from Northern Star Resources NST.AX, valuing the gold miner at A$5 billion ($3.25 billion).

De Grey was the top gainer on the benchmark, while Northern Star shed 5.8% to weigh the most on the index.

Heavily weighted financials .AXFJ ended marginally lower, with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia CBA.AX losing 0.3%.

Meanwhile, data showed the country's retail sales firmed for a third straight month in October, implying that the domestic central bank would not be in a hurry to cut interest rates as the underlying inflation failed to return to its target range.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 added 0.4% to end the day at 13,114.68 points.

($1 = A$1.5392)

(Reporting by Nikita Maria Jino in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy)

((Nikita.Jino@thomsonreuters.com;))

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