(Updates to close)
By Soumyajit Saha
Feb 12 (Reuters) - Australian shares ended higher on Wednesday, powered by gains in top two companies by market value on the benchmark after their strong half-year results, with a drop in new coronavirus cases in China adding to sentiment.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO ended 0.5% higher at 7,088.2 at the end of trade on Wednesday, after rising 0.6% on Tuesday.
Shares of Commonwealth Bank of Australia CBA.AX , the country's top lender, closed at a nearly five-year high as it posted a better-than-expected half-year profit and said it was looking to return capital to shareholders. bank's gains helped the financial subindex .AXFJ rise over 1.8%, contributing the most to the benchmark index's winnings.
Index heavyweight CSL Ltd CSL.AX hit a record high close after posting an 8% rise in first-half earnings and raising its full-year profit forecast.
Broader healthcare stocks .AXHJ also benefited from CSL's surge to end 0.4% higher.
Meanwhile, the country's biggest trading partner China reported its lowest number of new coronavirus cases since late January, lending credence to a prediction from the country's senior medical adviser that the outbreak could be over by April. .AXMM were lower, with heavyweight Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) closing over 1% lower as brokerage RBC downgraded the company's shares and forecasted per share profit to fall by 47% between 2019 and 2022. said a potential shock to demand from the coronavirus could hurt commodity prices.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 closed 0.5% higher at 11,898.24, after hitting a record high during the session.
The country's central bank held the official cash rate at 1% and said it expects the negative impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the economy to be limited to the first half.