The Australian sharemarket hit a new closing high, buoyed by an afternoon rally in Commonwealth Bank after the lender reported earnings that topped expectations.

The S&P/ASX 200 rose 51.3 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 8535.3, with seven of the index’s 11 sectors trading higher. The index had previously hit its closing peak on January 31.

While a slew of positive earnings results helped lift the bourse on Wednesday, a 1.8 per cent rally in Australia’s largest bank had the most impact.

CBA shares seesawed in the morning session before investors started to pile in, heartened by the bank’s half-year profit of $5.13 billion that came in slightly ahead of analysts’ expectations. CBA closed at a record high of $165.98, up 2.4 per cent. That lifted peers National Australia Bank, Westpac and ANZ, which rallied more than 1 per cent to close at $41.11, $34.65 and $31.23 respectively.

Vaneck senior portfolio manager Cameron McCormack said CBA’s rally – and the uplift for its peers – communicated investor sentiment around the wider banking sector.

“All [big four banks] are seeing very low delinquency rates, which is positive for the broader sector. CBA reinforced that today,” he said. “There was a lot of comfort that came through its results.”

Earnings flurry

AGL Energy and Suncorp, which reported half-year earnings, also helped lift the index.

Suncorp shares rose 1.3 per cent to $20.62 after the insurer’s net profit rose to $1.1 billion in the first half, up from $582 million, thanks to a one-off gain from the sale of its bank.

Computershare, meanwhile, rallied 15.5 per cent to $41.53 after the company hiked its interim dividend 12.5 per cent to 45¢ per share, on higher revenue growth and earnings improvement. Higher earnings forecasts prompted UBS to boost its price target for the stock to $37.50 per share.

In commodities, Brent Crude lingered below $US77 a barrel on Wednesday after signs that US sanctions were hampering Russian crude supplies boosted prices. That lifted Australia’s oil explorers: Woodside advanced 1.7 per cent to $24.91 and Santos, which has boosted its oil reserves, gained 1.3 per cent to $7.06.

Mining stocks remained mostly in the red, as investors pivoted from resources to banks. BHP closed just 0.1 per cent higher at $40.14. News had hit the market late in the session that Ross McEwan would succeed Ken MacKenzie as chairman. Rio Tinto slipped 0.6 per cent to $119, and Perseus Mining posted the biggest loss, down 4.9 per cent to $2.74.

The Australian dollar hit a two-week high above US63c, responding to a fall in the greenback. US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s statement that the US central bank was in no rush to cut interest rates had bolstered expectations of US rates remaining higher for longer.

Stocks in focus

In other corporate news, Evolution Mining rose 1.1 per cent to $6.29 after earnings per share rose to a record 18.4¢, and the company reported a 277 per cent jump in net profit in the half-year to December.

Bravura Solutions shares rocketed 18.6 to $2.74 after the wealth management tech provider announced a special dividend of 8.92¢, owing to a turnaround in financial performance.

Automotive parts supplier Amotiv fell 7.1 per cent to $9.87 after net profit dropped 36 per cent to $33 million in the first half as margins fell from acquisitions and higher freight costs.