By Suhail Hassan Bhat
Feb 15 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose to a one-month high on Wednesday, led by financials with Commonwealth Bank of Australia CBA.AX at the fore, while a string of strong half-year earnings lent further support.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO was 0.84 percent, or 48.258 points, higher at 5,803.5 by 0037 GMT. The benchmark snapped a 5-day winning streak in the previous session.
CBA shares saw their biggest gain in three-month after the top mortgage lender reported a 2 percent rise in half-year cash profit, helped by home lending. banks took their cue from U.S. banks, which powered Wall Street to a record high overnight after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said the central bank will likely need to raise interest rates at an upcoming meeting. .N Australia Bank NAB.AX and ANZ ANZ.AX shares added more than 1.6 percent each, while Westpac Banking Corp WBC.AX gained 1.8 percent.
Market movement is led by stock results; CBA and Computershare are higher as their results came in a bit ahead of expectations, while Boral is also up, said Bill Keenan, general manager equities and researcher at Lonsec.
"Overall, financials and materials are lending support to the market."
Data processing firm Computershare CPU.AX rose to an all-time high after profit jumped 78 percent for first-half, while Australia's largest supplier of building materials Boral Ltd BLD.AX hit a near 4-month high. reported net profit of A$153.4 million ($117.4 million) for the half-year, beating a Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) forecast for A$141 million. rising on higher iron ore prices, also provided some support, with bluechips BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) BHP.AX and Fortescue Metals Group FMG.AX both climbing over 1.3 percent. O/R
In the consumer space, Wesfarmers Ltd WES.AX rose to more than a 3-month high after the conglomerate posted its highest first-half profit in more than a decade the other end, Domino's Pizza Enterprises DMP.AX saw its biggest fall in three months, even after the retailer reported a 15.5 percent increase in half-year profit. trades at a very high multiple. There was nothing which we could actually see was negative (in results). Perhaps it's just that its Europe (segment performance) is tracking a bit below expectations," said Keenan.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3:2 ratio, with 178 issues touching 52-week new highs against 151 touching 52-week new lows.
A survey showed Australia's consumer sentiment rose 2.3 percent in February, after rising just 0.1 percent in January. Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 gained 0.5 percent, or 35.27 points to 7,186.16. The benchmark touched a 4-month high
Telecom and material stocks led the gains, with Fletcher Building FBU.NZ and Spark New Zealand SPK.NZ rising 1 percent and 2 percent, respectively.