March 27 (Reuters) - Australian shares declined on Thursday, on track to snap a five-day rally dragged by heavyweight financials, while an escalation in trade war tensions after the U.S. unveiled auto tariffs also weighed on sentiment.

The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO fell 0.6% to 7,950.6, as of 0004 GMT. The benchmark closed 0.7% higher on Wednesday.

Banks .AXFJ fell 0.8%, with the "Big Four" banks losing between 0.1% and 0.7%.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 25% tariff on imported cars and light trucks from April 2, reigniting trade war concerns plaguing global investors.

Locally, tech stocks .AXIJ followed their Wall Street peers to drop 2.2% to around a one-week low.

Xero XRO.AX lost 1.3%, while WiseTech Global WTC.AX shed 3.6%.

Pension fund AustralianSuper sold its stake in WiseTech after market hours on Wednesday, saying the logistics software giant's recent handling of founder Richard White's transition did not meet its expectations.

A rally in oil prices drove energy stocks .AXEJ 0.6% higher, with Woodside WDS.AX rising 1% and Santos STO.AX adding 0.2%. O/R

Miners .AXMM gained 0.2% on stronger iron prices and the prospect of reduced U.S. tariffs on China after Trump said he might give concessions to get a deal signed on short video app TikTok. IRONORE/

Meanwhile, February inflation data on Wednesday showed price pressures eased across half the consumer basket, supporting the bets for interest rate cuts from the Reserve Bank of Australia in the upcoming months.

The central bank is scheduled to meet next week, from March 31 to April 1.

U.S. property data group CoStar CSGP.O sweetened its bid for Australia's Domain Holdings DHG.AX, sending its shares 4.3% lower. The revised offer price was at a discount to the Australian stock's last closing price of A$4.47.

In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 traded 0.2% lower.

(Reporting by Sneha Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)

((Sneha.kumar@thomsonreuters.com))

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