* Top lender CBA trades ex-dividend, falls 2.9%
* Lender Westpac down 0.9% on bleak outlook
* Miner Fortescue Metals up 4.7% on solid half-year results
By Sameer Manekar
Feb 19 (Reuters) - Australian shares swung between positive and negative territory on Wednesday, with top lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia CBA.AX dragging on the benchmark, offsetting gains in gold and mining stocks.
The coronavirus outbreak, which has resulted in more than 2,000 deaths in China as of Tuesday, continued to hit overall sentiment, with casino operator Crown Resorts CWN.AX the latest among Australian companies to flag financial headwinds due to the epidemic. are seeing the evidence at company level of the impact of coronavirus, and the market is starting to turn less optimistic," said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets.
Logistics software maker WiseTech Global WTC.AX slumped as much as 19.2% after it cut its full-year 2020 earnings forecast on the coronavirus impact. S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO ticked up about 0.1% to 7,117.9 by 0050 GMT.
The financials sub-index .AXFJ fell up to a percent, marking its biggest intraday fall in over two weeks.
CBA fell up to 2.9% trading ex-dividend and marked its worst session in more than six months. The firm had announced a A$2 per share interim dividend last week. 2 lender Westpac Banking Corp WBC.AX lost up to 0.9% after it said its fiscal 2020 earnings would be hit by a rise in costs related to deadly bushfires and a lawsuit brought by financial crime regulator AUSTRAC. losses were gold stocks .AXGD , which rose up to 3.7% after bullion surged over 1% overnight, with heavyweights Newcrest Mining Ltd NCM.AX and Northern Star Resources NST.AX tacking on 4.4% and 2.3%, respectively. GOL/
The mining sector .AXMM gained up to 0.7%, with iron ore-focused player Fortescue Metals Group FMG.AX rising 4.7%, its best day in nearly a month, after it reported a near four-fold rise in its half-year profit. stocks also gained, led by Wesfarmers Ltd WES.AX , which hit a record high in early trade, after posting a 5.7% rise in first-half profit, defying broader retail headwinds. Crown Resorts erased early losses in the session to inch up 0.5%.
Crown reported an 11% fall in its half-year profit as Chinese high-rollers scaled back spending amid a slowdown in the world's second-largest economy. the Tasman Sea, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 rose 0.2% to 11,959.53.
Among heavyweight stocks, telecom firm Spark New Zealand SPK.NZ gained up to 2% following upbeat half-yearly profit, and dairy firm a2 Milk Co ATM.NZ added up to 1.5%.