Shares of real estate firms jumped past 1% at midday Wednesday.

Vicinity Centres (ASX:VCX) reported fiscal first-half adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) of AU$0.0704 per security, up from AU$0.0698 a year earlier.

The Australian Stock Exchange was also boosted by financial firms, led by NAB (ASX:NAB), whose shares hit a record high after reporting unaudited cash earnings of AU$2.02 billion for the fiscal first quarter, up from AU$1.74 billion a year earlier.

On the flip side, the materials sector, one of the two sectors trading in the red, dropped nearly 1%.

SGH (ASX:SGH), along with Nasdaq-listed metals firm Steel Dynamics, submitted a revised non-binding indicative offer to fully acquire BlueScope Steel (ASX:BSL) for AU$32.35 apiece, representing a total equity value of AU$15 billion.