Reuters Finance News, Australia

* S&P/ASX 200 ends at 4,540.1, reversing previous day's loss

* Westpac Bank up 1.4 percent

* Gold miners lead gains (Adds fund manager comments)

By Adrian Bathgate and Sonali Paul

WELLINGTON/MELBOURNE, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Australian shares ended up 0.2 percent on Wednesday, helped by banks after Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC.ax) said the bad debt cycle had peaked, while gold miners led gains after gold scaled a new record high.

Westpac, the last of the big banks to report its full year results, was the best performer among the banks, climbing 1.4 percent to A$24.79 after it narrowly beat analysts' forecasts. [ID:nSYD253066]

Analysts said however that banks may not give the market the same impetus in coming sessions since the sector as now seen as fairly priced following a sharp run-up since March.

"I don't know that the banking sector has a lot of upside left in it," said Mark Nathan, a portfolio manager at Fortis Investment Partners.

National Australia Bank (ASX: NAB.ax) fell 0.9 percent to A$28.15, while Australia & New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ.ax) rose 0.7 percent to A$22.73 and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA.ax) rose 0.2 percent to A$51.37.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO picked up 8.6 points to close at 4,540.1, reversing Tuesday's small loss.

New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index .NZ50 also rose 0.2 percent to close at 3,166.7.

Among gold miners, Kingsgate Consolidated (ASX: KCN.ax) notched up the biggest gain, rising 10.4 percent to A$8.39, followed by St Barbara (ASX: SBM.ax) , which rose 7.8 percent to A$0.345.

Top miner BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP.ax) rose 0.5 percent to A$36.94 while Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO.ax) rose 1 percent to A$63.43. (Editing by Jonathan Standing)