Financial stocks fell 1.5 percent to a near four-week low. The Royal Commission, which has revealed widespread wrongdoing at Australia's top financial institutions, is slated to release its final report on Feb. 4, with investors bracing for unprecedented regulatory attention on some the world's most profitable banks.
The country's "Big Four" banks lost between 1.6 percent to 2.5 percent each on Thursday. Meanwhile, Australia-listed shares of Janus Henderson dropped 3.3 percent after it said on Wednesday it would close down three of its Australian equities funds.
The news comes as other fund managers in Australia have flagged plunge in first-half earnings on increased volatility and equity market sell-offs in the last quarter of 2018. Elsewhere, mining stocks gained on higher commodities prices and the Fed's pledge to be patient with future rate hikes.
In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.7 percent or 59.820 points to finish the session at 8,985.340. Dairy giant a2 Milk Co was the top percentage gainer on the benchmark, closing 3.7 percent up.