Australia shares close up after Westpac reassurance

(Updates to provisional close)

WELLINGTON/MELBOURNE, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Australian shares ended up 0.2 percent on Wednesday, shored up by miners and three of the four big banks, after Westpac Banking Corp <WBC.AX> said the bad debt cycle had peaked.

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

New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index <.NZ50> also rose 0.2 percent to close at 3,166.7. (Reporting by Adrian Bathgate and Sonali Paul; Editing by Mark Bendeich)