It's been a decent day of trading so far for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) this Friday. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 has gained a decent 0.41% and is trading at just under 7,500 points. But it's been an even better day for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price.
CBA shares are outperforming the market so far this Friday. The ASX's largest bank share has presently gained a healthy 0.57%, which puts the bank at $109.46 a share. But earlier this morning, CBA climbed as high as $109.77. That's a new 52-week high for CommBank shares, as you can see below:
Now, $109.77 may be CBA's new 52-week high. But it is not the highest share price Commonwealth Bank shares have ever traded at. There's not much in it, but back in November 2021, CBA shares hit an all-time record high of $110.19 a share. So that high watermark remains just a little out of reach, at least for now.
So why are CBA shares hitting new highs today?
Why is the CBA share price at a new 52-week high?
Well, it's got nothing to do with any news out of the bank itself. CBA hasn't released any meaningful ASX announcements in 2023 at all, as of yet.
So perhaps investors are betting that CBA's upcoming trading update report will be a positive one. As my Fool colleague looked at last week, CBA is scheduled to deliver its next market update on 15 February next month.
Rising interest rates are generally good news for ASX banks, so maybe investors are expecting to see this codified in next month's numbers.
Or maybe investors are getting excited about the prospect of more dividends from ASX's largest bank share. As we discussed earlier this month, ASX broker Morgans has recently come out and predicted that ASX dividend investors will enjoy dividends per share worth $4.10 in the 2023 financial year.
That would be a substantial increase from CBA's total of $3.85 in FY2022. But even better, the broker is also forecasting that CBA will keep the pay rises coming with an anticipated total of $4.55 in dividends per share by FY2024.
If that came to pass, it would represent an increase of 18.2% from FY2022's dividend payment.
Whatever the reason for today's share price gains and new 52-week high, I'm sure most CBA investors would be in a celebratory mood this Friday.
