Australian shares rise in earnings-heavy session; CSL plunges 18%

Australian shares advanced on Wednesday, led by gains in financials and miners as a series of earnings bolstered sentiment, while CSL plunged to log its worst session on record following its CEO’s retirement announcement and a decline in first-half profit.

The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.8% to 8,937.90 points at 0002 GMT.

The benchmark ended flat on Tuesday.

Biotech giant CSL dropped as much as 18.2% to its lowest level since mid-February 2018 after it announced the departure of its chief executive officer, and reported a 7% drop in its first-half earnings.

It emerged as the top laggard on the benchmark, and also dragged the healthcare sub-index by as much as 6.2% to its lowest level since mid-May 2019.

A slew of corporate earnings, including strong results from heavyweights, boosted investor sentiment.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia posted record first-half cash earnings, and advanced as much as 6.7% to its highest level since November 11.

The lender was also the top gainer on the financials sub-index, which was up 3.1%, with the remaining three of the “Big Four” banks gaining between 1.4% and 2.9%.

Power producer AGL Energy rose as much as 8.3% to its highest level since early December after it narrowed its annual forecasts while reporting better-than-expected half-year profit.

ASX-listed shares of James Hardie Industries surged as much as 13% to their highest level since late August after the company narrowed its full-year earnings forecast and reported a quarterly profit beat.

CBA, AGL Energy and ASX-listed shares of James Hardie Industries were among the top gainers on the benchmark.

In sub-indexes, miners and gold stocks were up for a third consecutive session, gaining as much as 0.7% and 1%, respectively. Energy stocks snapped a two-day winning streak and were down as much as 0.9% on muted oil prices.

New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.2% to 13,488.44 points.