Market Wrap / rally rest

The S&P/ ASX 200 shrugged off Wall Street gains to finish just 0.13% higher during Wednesday's session to 8279.60 points. 

This was the result of very contrasted company news and macro tailwinds coming in this Wednesday. 

The banking sector was in focus, with market-heavy CBA reporting an unaudited cash profit of $2.6 billion for the third quarter - flat on the previous period - but up 6% from a year earlier. The stock gained 0.8%. However, Macquarie suffered from a lawsuit filed by ASIC against Macquarie Securities on alleged  "repeated and systemic misleading conduct" regarding short-selling trades.

And Bain Capital pulled out of the takeover race for Insignia Financial, sending the stock 15.7% lower, today’s largest percentage loss. 

 But the energy sector pushed ahead, supported by an uptick in oil prices, but also by Woodside signing a partnership deal with Saudi Aramco. Woodside advanced 3.4% while its competitor Santos was in the red. 

 Aristocrat Leisure slumped 8.9% as first-half earnings came in below expectations. The whole consumer discretionary closed in the negative, however Webjet surged to a five-month high after it revealed that shareholder BGH Capital had expressed interest in acquiring a controlling stake. 

 Tonight; Cisco and Tencent reports earnings while Federal Reserve Chair Jefferson delivers a speech. Labour force data is due locally tomorrow while Xero and GrainCorp reporting quarterly earnings.