Australia shares flat after Wall Street's slip

* Consumer staples, miners weigh on ASX

* Qantas up a second day; Woolworths falls after earnings

* 106 shares higher, 79 shares lower, 15 shares unchanged (Adds analysis, quotes, stocks on the move)

By Swati Pandey and Naomi Tajitsu

SYDNEY/WELLINGTON, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Australian shares were flat in choppy trade on Friday, with consumer staples and miners down and investors wary after renewed tension in Ukraine hit Wall Street overnight.

Trading linked to month-end settlements and the close of the domestic earnings season added to the choppiness.

Wesfarmers Ltd, Asia's largest-listed retailer by market value, was down 3 percent.

Rival Woolworths Ltd fell 1.5 percent after it said it expected trading conditions to remain challenging in FY15 and will review the practice of providing profit guidance.

The S&P/ASX 200 index, hovering near 6-year highs, was up 2.89 points at 5,627.3 by 0144 GMT. The benchmark fell 0.5 percent on Thursday.

"We are drawing to the end of the reporting season and analysts are looking at the most recent data to work out what to do," said Jonathan Fyfe, investment adviser, Wilson HTM Investment Group.

"What we have seen is if you are producing less than satisfactory numbers or even slightly missing forecasts, then your stock is getting sold down quite heavily. Investors are expecting a lot more out of companies," he added.

Miners and mining services companies such as WorleyParsons Ltd, Sirius Resources NL, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto (Xetra: 855018 - news) fell.

Qantas Airways Ltd, however, rose for a second straight session after it said it expects to return to underlying profitability in the current half year.

National Australia Bank rose 1.2 percent after saying it will sell a minority stake in its U.S. subsidiary Great Western Bancorp Inc through a public share-offer.

Transfield shares rocketed 19 percent to a 15-month high of A$1.68 after it said it expected earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization to rise to between A$240 million and A$260 million in the year to June 2015.

Harvey Norman rose 6.4 percent to its highest level since October 2010 after annual net profit after-tax rose 49 percent.

New Zealand's benchmark NZX-50 index slipped 11.9 points to 5,225.60, easing from a record closing high of 5,243.70 earlier in the week.

New Zealand shares have been boosted by a solid domestic earnings season, but investors are wary in the near term, given the risk that rising global geopolitical tensions may curb overall demand for stocks.

Contact Energy (NZSE: CEN.NZ - news) fell 1.8 percent to NZ$5.54, retreating from a 3 1/2-month high of NZ$5.65 earlier in the week. Investors took profit in New Zealand's largest listed power company, which had rallied after last week reporting a jump in full-year profit.

Air New Zealand was also sapped by profit-taking. The national carrier slipped 1 percent to NZ$2.20 from a two-month high of NZ$2.23 hit on Thursday after announcing strong profit and an upbeat earnings outlook. (Editing by Richard Borsuk)