Australian shares open flat, financials offset by weak miners

SYDNEY, Mar 11 (Reuters) - Australian shares opened flat on
Monday as further gains on Wall Street boosted financial stocks,
but miners eased on weak metals prices.
Blue chip miners BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd
slipped 1 percent and 2.1 percent respectively.
Financials were stronger, with National Australia Bank
rallying 0.9 percent to lead the big banks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index added 3 points to
5,126.5 by 2311 GMT. The index rose 0.3 percent on Friday.
New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index rose 0.1
percent, or 4.9 points, to a fresh all-time high of 4,358.9.

(Reporting by Thuy Ong; Editing by Richard Pullin)