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Australia shares slip to 4-week lows on rising bond yields, miners edge higher

* ASX 200 dips 0.4 percent as bond yields rise

* 73 shares higher, 114 shares lower, 13 shares unchanged

* Volumes modestly lower as investors eye events next week (Adds analysis, quotes, stocks on the move)

By Thuy Ong and Naomi Tajitsu

SYDNEY/WELLINGTON, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Australian shares were down 0.4 percent to four-week lows on Friday as investors exited equities on the back of rising bond yields, though an uptick among recently-routed mining stocks steadied the market.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (Other OTC: CBAUF - news) dipped 0.6 percent, while Westpac Banking Corp lost 0.7 percent. Mid-tier bank Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Ltd dropped 1.6 percent and Bank of Queensland Ltd (Other OTC: BKQNY - news) 1.4 percent.

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"All the yield-proxy players have not done well as bond yields have risen," said Damien Boey, equity strategist at Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS - news) .

"Anything that's offering low yield at the moment is getting hit a bit."

The S&P/ASX 200 index lost 19.8 points to 5,526.3 by 0217 GMT. For the week, the benchmark was down 1.3 percent, and was on track for its third straight weekly decline.

Investors stayed cautious ahead of key events including the Scottish referendum and next week's U.S. Federal Reserve meeting. China, Australia's largest export market, is due to release industrial output and retail sales data on the weekend.

Trading volume was moderately lower, with 223.7 million shares trading hands by 0215 GMT, compared to a five day daily average of 444.8 million shares.

The resource space eked out a minor gain after being sold off in recent weeks on the back of slumping iron prices.

Global miners BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd (Xetra: 855018 - news) added 0.5 percent and 0.2 percent, though gains were capped as the commodity needed to make steel fell to its lowest since September 2009. Australia's biggest gold miner Newcrest Mining Ltd edged 0.2 percent higher.

In September, BHP has skid 2.7 percent while Rio Tinto is down 1.5 percent.

Myer Holdings Ltd tumbled 5.8 percent on Friday, continuing the previous session's slump after Australia's largest department store operator posted a 22.6 percent fall in annual profit.

Analysts said a number of brokers had downgraded the stock. The share-price rally before its earnings report was cancelled out by the disappointing results, with the stock back to A$2.03, where it was in June.

Among other retailers, Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd declined 0.9 percent and discount outlet Reject Shop Ltd dropped 1.4 percent.

New Zealand's benchmark NZ-50 index slipped 28.3 points to 5,233.99.

Losses were driven by a 6.7 percent slide in Xero which hit a three-week low of NZ$21.40 after the resignation of the accounting software developer's head of U.S. operations after only seven months raised concerns about its aggressive expansion plans. (Editing by Richard Borsuk)