Australian equities climbed to fresh records on Wednesday, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 advancing as much as 0.6% to an intraday high of 8,824 shortly after the opening bell in Sydney. The index first crossed 8,788.90 points, surpassing the previous peak, then rose to 8,805.10 before extending gains. The advance exceeded the 0.2% rise implied by ASX futures, reinforcing the market’s recent outperformance amid choppy global conditions. Wednesday’s session comes ahead of earnings releases from AMP, News Corp and REA Group, results investors will parse for clues on corporate profitability. The upbeat start contrasts with Wall Street, where the S&P 500 fell 0.5% overnight after weaker-than-expected US services data.