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By Roushni Nair

March 25 - Australian shares ended Tuesday's session nearly unchanged as a decline in heavyweight mining stocks overshadowed gains across most sectors, while some concerns on the U.S. tariff front eased.

The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO closed 0.07% higher at 7,942.5 points after rising as much as 0.7%. The benchmark briefly approached the psychologically important 8,000-point threshold, a level not seen since March 7.

U.S. President Donald Trump's indication that automobile tariffs are coming soon, but with possible exemptions for many countries, helped calm market fears about severe trade measures.

Banking stocks .AXFJ closed flat after earlier climbing more than 1% to an over two-week high. The sub-index has lost about 11% since its February peak.

National Australia Bank NAB.AX, Westpac WBC.AX, and ANZ Group ANZ.AX fell between 0.3% and 3.5%.

"Financial stocks rode the general momentum higher, with traders also looking for some value buys given where prices are now relative to the peaks hit back in February," said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade Global.

Miners .AXMM declined 0.3%, as concerns persisted about potential impacts on top metals consumer China's economy from U.S. tariffs.

BHP BHP.AX and Fortescue FMG.AX retreated xx% and xx%, respectively.

"Australia's economy and the mining sector in particular are poised to feel any knock-on effects if our largest export market (China) starts to falter," Waterer said.

Building products maker James Hardie JHX.AX topped losses on the benchmark, falling over 5% to its lowest since May 2023, as analysts questioned the premium paid for its $8.75 billion acquisition of U.S. firm AZEK AZEK.N.

Investors are now closely monitoring two key domestic economic events - the federal budget announcement scheduled for 7:30 p.m. AEDT (0830 GMT) later in the day and February's inflation data due Wednesday.

Technology .AXIJ and healthcare .AXHJ rose 1.8% and 1%, respectively.

Consumer stocks .AXSJ fell 0.9% as Woolworths WOW.AX and Coles COL.AX extended losses, with investors taking profits after last week's rally following regulatory clearance on price-gouging allegations.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 closed 0.5% higher, gaining for a fourth straight session.

(Reporting by Roushni Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng)

((Roushni.Nair@thomsonreuters.com;))

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