COMMONWEALTH Bank of Australia's (CBA) profit upgrade drove an abrupt turn in trade as the Australian share market closed today pushing the market to close 1.6 points higher.
The market had been trading lower throughout today's session until 3:58pm (AEDT) when CBA suggested its first-half cash profit would rise about 44 per cent from a year earlier after solid income growth.
At 3:58pm (AEDT), the benchmarket S&P/ASX200 index was down 23.9 point to 4,874.1 points before closing up 1.6 points, or 0.03 per cent, at 4,899.6.
The broader All Ordinaries index finished 0.1 points higher at 4,929.5.
At 4:15pm (AEDT) on the Sydney Futures Exchange, the March share price index futures contract was one point higher at 4,880 on volume of 23,849 contracts.
"The bank's announcement turned the market on its head,'' IGMarkets' analyst Ben Potter said.
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"This was completely unexpected.''
Earlier today traders were scratching their heads over the reasons for the weaker market.
Bell Potter Securities senior client adviser Stuart Smith said those possibilities included derivatives trading, the upcoming index option expiry next Thursday or the expectation of further interest rate rises beyond February.
"It could be those overriding factors which are prompting people to profit take on a Friday,'' he said.
Commonwealth Bank's share were listed as closing down 40 cents, or 0.7 per cent, to $56.39 at 1610 AEDT, but finished $1.31, or 2.31 per cent, higher at $58.10.
It's major rivals all lost ground during the trading session but closed higher as well as CBA's announcement spilled over the sector.
Westpac closed 12 cents higher at $25.50, ANZ Banking Group firmed three cents to $22.43 and National Australia Bank jumped 25 cents, or 0.92 per cent to $27.30.
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