Market Wrap / rate expectations

A battle between the banks and the miners weighed on the local market during Wednesday's trade.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed up 3.70 points to 8559.20. CBA shares hit a fresh record high above $190 pushing the banks and overall index higher, while energy and mining stocks fell on weaker commodity prices. Woodside Energy shed 0.7% despite sealing a US$5.7 billion deal over its Louisiana LNG project.

Pointsbet shares were placed in a trading halt amid a messy shareholder vote. Rival bid betr claimed to the ASX its proxy votes were not counted. Earlier, it had appeared Japanese entertainment giant Mixi managed to secure enough votes needed to take over Pointsbet at $1.20 a share.

Droneshield gained 19.9% after being awarded its biggest defence contract on record.

And Xero entered a trading halt amid news it is expanding in the US, with a $3.9 billion acquisition of B2B payment platform Melio.