News: NST Miners drag Australian shares lower ahead of Powell comments

Jan 10 (Reuters) - Australian shares slipped on Tuesday, snapping a four-day winning streak, with local miners leading losses amid a risk-averse environment ahead of upcoming comments from the U.S. Federal Reserve Chair on the rate-hike trajectory.

The S&P/ASX 200 index (xjo) dipped 0.1% to 7144.10 by 2346 GMT. The benchmark ended 0.6% higher on Monday.

Investors are awaiting comments due later in the day from Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who some strategists expect could say more time is needed to show inflation is under control.

Local miners .AXMM slipped 0.4% as iron ore prices dipped after China's state planner pledged to ramp up efforts to regulate prices of the steelmaking ingredient and crack down on "malicious" price speculation.

Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) fell 0.1%, while Rio Tinto (RIO) gained 0.3%.

Energy stocks .AXEJ dipped 0.2% even as oil prices jumped after China's reopened borders boosted the outlook for fuel demand and overshadowed global recession concerns.

Woodside energy (WDS) and Santos (STO) fell 0.1% and 0.4%, respectively.

Gold stocks .AXGD fell 2.2% to be the top percentage losers even as bullion prices rose on a weaker U.S. dollar. A weaker dollar makes greenback-priced gold cheaper for overseas buyers.

Newcrest Mining (NCM) and Northern Star Resources (NST) dipped 1.3% and 2.2%, respectively.

Banking stocks .AXFJ fell about 0.1% with ANZ Group Holdings (ANZ) dropping 0.2%.

On the upside, Australian tech stocks .AXIJ tracked tech-heavy NASDAQ higher to advance 0.3%. Shares of Xero (XRO) and Novonix (NVX) jumped 0.8% and 2.9%, respectively.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index (nz50) jumped 0.2% to 11,668.17.