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March 18 (Reuters) - Australian shares inched lower on Monday, dragged down by losses in heavyweight mining and financials stocks, as investors braced for a central bank policy decision due on Tuesday.

The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO had declined 0.3% to 7,647.0 by 2351 GMT, heading for a third consecutive session of falls.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is expected to hold its key interest rate at 4.35% for a third straight meeting on Tuesday and at least until end-September, according to a Reuters poll of economists.

While financial markets have priced in rate cuts for most other major central banks starting around June, the RBA is a notable outlier with no such mid-year pricing.

Miners .AXMM fell 0.3% after iron ore prices tanked on Friday as concerns grew about demand from China with increasing prospects of steel production cuts in the country. IRONORE/

BHP Group BHP.AX and Fortescue FMG.AX declined 0.2% and 1.6%, respectively, while Rio Tinto RIO.AX edged 0.2% higher.

Mineral Resources MIN.AX rose as much as 0.9% after the company said it would develop a lithium processing hub in Western Australia.

Financials .AXFJ eased 0.1%, down for a third consecutive session. Commonwealth Bank of Australia CBA.AX, the country's biggest lender, rose 0.4%.

Energy stocks .AXEJ dropped 0.5% after oil prices closed lower on Friday. Woodside Energy WDS.AX and Santos STO.AX were down 0.9% and 0.2% respectively. O/R

Tech stocks .AXIJ fell 0.7% and were on track for a third session of declines, after their Wall Street counterparts settled lower on Friday.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 fell 0.3%, or 40.58 points, to 11,726.4.

Critical data points like fourth-quarter current account balance and gross domestic product (GDP) numbers are due this week.

The current account deficit was expected to narrow, while the GDP growth was estimated to be flat, according to Westpac analysts.

(Reporting by Sneha Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

((Sneha.kumar@thomsonreuters.com))

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