March 4 (Reuters) - Australian shares were trading flat on...

March 4 (Reuters) - Australian shares were trading flat on Monday after notching a record high earlier, as the miners erased early gains to weigh on the advances in heavyweight financials, while investors were cautious ahead of a key growth data later in the week.

The S&P/ASX 200 index (xjo) was largely unchanged at 7,748.2 by 2333 GMT, after hitting a record high of 7,769.1 earlier. The benchmark ended 0.6% higher on Friday.

Australia's gross domestic product growth data is set to be announced on Wednesday, offering further clues to the Reserve bank of Australia's policy rate decisions after the country's inflation came in soft last week.

Miners .AXMM edged up 0.2% before trading flat, with behemoth BHP Group (BHP) declining 0.5%, while Rio Tinto (RIO) and Fortescue (FMG) rose 0.2% and 0.3%, respectively.

Heavyweight financials .AXFJ rose 0.1% with the country's top lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) climbing 0.3%.

Energy stocks .AXEJ gained 0.2% on oil prices hike, with sector major Woodside (WDS) adding 0.3%.

Gold stocks .AXGD jumped 4.8% to a one-month high, as gold prices touched a two-month peak.

Gold miners Northern Star Resources (NST) and Evolution Mining (EVN) gained 6.2% and 5.7% respectively.

Genex Power (GNX) surged as much as 37.8% after Japan's Electric Power Development 9513.T lodged a $249 million takeover bid for the renewable energy firm.

Lake Resources (LKE) lost as much as 7.4% during early trade despite the lithium developer announcing job cuts of nearly 50% workforce.

Downer EDI (DOW) , on the other hand, lost as much as 3.6% after the contracting firm said it had filed counter claims on a misrepresentations lawsuit.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index (nz50) fell 0.1% or 16.13 points to 11,728.26.

The country's central bank announced that banks must report major cyber incidents within 72 hours.