The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 0.05 per cent, or 3 points, higher at 5535.0, while the broader All Ordinaries Index added 0.04 per cent, or 2.4 points, to 5628.1.

BHP Billiton led the miners higher, adding 3.3 per cent after its earnings report late Tuesday afternoon. Commonwealth Bank of Australia would have joined its Big Four peers in climbing had the bank not traded ex-dividend, which dragged the shares 2.6 per cent lower and weighed on the index.

Long suffering QBE shareholders had another day to forget after the insurer plunged 8.3 per cent following 46 per cent drop in half-year profit.

"There are always exotic bits of the operation that disappoint, but this time it was more home grown," Arnhem Investment Management portfolio manager Mark Nathan said. "This time it was Australia, and the NSW CTP market in particular."

Mr Nathan said the steep sell-off in the shares was justified.

"The response is probably appropriate to the size of the underlying miss," he said.

Another bluechip, CSL, hit a rare sour note in its annual profit report, as the blood products and vaccine company suggested its earnings would rebound by less than expected in 2017 after posting a drop in net profits for the past financial year.

"The 2017 guidance looks OK, but was nowhere near where the market was expecting," Mr Nathan said. But while investors were savage with fellow blue-chip QBE, CSL shares fell a more sedate 5.1 per cent.

"The reason the stock is not off more is in part because the market is looking through 2017 and into 2018," Mr Nathan said, although he noted that Australian shareholders would be loathe to sell such a high quality company. "There aren't there many global leaders like CSL, and there will be a temptation to hold it through thick and thin."

Among other reporting companies were Sonic Healthcare, Stockland, Crown, Primary Health Care, Vicinity Centres and ARB Corp.

Market movers

BHP on a high

Investors drove BHP shares to their highest since early May, despite the big Australian on Tuesday night posting its biggest loss ever and slashing its dividend. But the loss was a bit lower than feared and analysts liked the miner's efforts to cut costs and lift productivity. It also didn't hurt that iron ore - BHP's biggest cash cow - jumped 3 per cent on Tuesday night to $US62 a tonne.

Wages inch higher

Wages rose just 0.5 per cent in the second quarter and 2.1 per cent over the year, the equal slowest pace on record. Despite the anaemic growth, real wages are still rising due to low inflation. Economists expect wages growth to remain weak over the next year or so, due to significant spare capacity in the labour market, keeping overall inflation low.

Shenzhen linked

Beijing has taken another step towards opening China's financial markets, unveiling a second channel for foreign investors to buy stocks while also lifting restrictions on asset flows. Regulators approved the launch of a link between Hong Kong and Shenzhen's tech-heavy exchange. It also scrapped quota limits for an earlier scheme linking Hong Kong to the Shanghai bourse. The measures are seen as a bid to include Chinese shares in global indices.

Greenback bounces

The US dollar edged off seven-week lows following hawkish comments from New York Fed president William Dudley who warned the central bank could raise rates as soon as September, but scepticism about the Fed's willingness to tighten policy limited the bounce. The greenback nudged back above 100 yen after falling to 99.550 Tuesday night, its lowest since June 24, when Brexit turmoil boosted the safe-haven yen.

Stock watch

Evolution Mining investors endured a tough session despite Australia's second-largest gold miner posting a strong operational performance, doubling its dividend and flagging a further rise in the payout. Shares fell more than 6 per cent after the miner swung to a statutory net loss of $24.4 million, due to high impairments on the Pajingo mine, which it agreed to sell this week for around $52 million, a price at the lower end of expectations. But the share slump was in line with losses in the broader gold sector and analysts remain fairly upbeat for the stock, with an average price target of $3.00. UBS, which has a 'neutral' rating on Evolution and a target price of $2.65, lists it as its choice pick in the sector.