Australian shares end at record high as CBA boosts financials

Australian stocks closed at a record high on Wednesday, buoyed by financials as Commonwealth Bank of Australia doubled its dividend payout and announced a record $4.41 billion share buyback.

The S&P/ASX 200 index settled 0.3% higher at 7,584.6. Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) hit a new peak before closing 1.5% higher as the country's largest lender also posted a 20% jump in annual profit.

Miners lift Australian stocks to new peak, Lynas hits 8-1/2-year high

Smoling Stockbroking Managing Director Brad Smoling said CBA's stellar result made a lot of people happy given the low cash rates, getting good dividends and the promise of a share buyback.

The financial sub-index gained 0.9%, hitting a more than four-year high, with the remaining "big four" lenders up between 0.9% and 1.2%.

Investors now await the earnings results of National Australia Bank and Westpac.

Miners rose 1.2%, heavy-lifted by Rio Tinto and BHP Group, both climbing more than 1% as iron ore eked out gains after five straight sessions of losses.

US inflation data is due later in the day, and investors believe a higher reading can benefit commodity and related stocks in Australia.

Gold stocks remained the biggest drag on the main index, even as bullion prices edged higher on worries over a surge in the Delta variant cases.

Meanwhile, Australian authorities extended lockdowns in Melbourne for seven days until Aug. 19 as the country continues its fight to get on top of the highly infectious Delta variant.

In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.07% to 12,772.9.