Australian shares closed higher, as investors reacted positively to quarterly earnings reports and strong iron ore prices.
The benchmark ASX 200 ended trading 1 per cent higher, at 7,186, while the broader All Ordinaries also gained 1 per cent, to 7,489.
After a day of losses on Monday, the mining and financial sectors were the biggest boosts the to market. Tech and consumer staples were the only sectors to close in the red.
Travel stocks, buoyed by the federal government's announcement that international borders would reopen on February 21, also did well.
Webjet added 8 per cent, Magellan Financial Group gained 7.2 per cent, Flight Centre stocks added 7.2 per cent, and Suncorp Group stocks rose 5.8 per cent, despite the banking and insurance company reporting a 29 per cent drop in its first-half cash earnings.
Suncorp — which owns brands such as GIO, Apia and AAMI — said it expected natural hazard costs for the full year to be around $1.08 billion.
Its cash earnings, of $361 million, were down from $509 million a year ago. Its net profit after tax fell nearly 21 per cent, to $388 million.
The company also announced an interim dividend of 23 cents, down from 26 cents per share last year.
However, while volatile weather conditions drove up insurance claims, the hit to profits was not as bad as the markets expected.
Meanwhile, Macquarie Group stock was up 4.2 per cent after the financial conglomerate said it had had a "record" third quarter.
The global infrastructure investor, which does not disclose profit figures in quarterly updates, said the net profit contribution from its commodities, markets and investment banking businesses rose "substantially" in the third quarter from a year earlier.
It said fee revenue at its investment banking business, Macquarie Capital, was "significantly up" after handling 126 transactions globally, valued at $105 billion ($74.81 billion), with activity in the second half also expected to be high.
However, Macquarie said margins were being crimped at its banking business due to steep competition, a trend also flagged by Westpac and ANZ.
The worst performing stocks were Appen Limited (-6.7pc), Nanosonics (-5.1pc), Pointsbet Holdings (-3.6pc), Peresus Mining (-2.9pc), and REA Group (-2.5pc).
Business conditions down but confidence up
Business conditions deteriorated in January as the Omicron variant caused COVID-19 cases to reach unprecedented levels, according to NAB's monthly business confidence survey.
Business conditions fell 5 points in January, to a reading of +3 index points.
There were large falls in profitability (down 8 points, to +2 index points) and trading conditions (down 7 points, to +7). Employment also fell (down 3 points, to -1).
“The Omicron outbreak has caused significant disruption, and that is reflected in a deterioration in business conditions to start the year,” said NAB Group chief economist Alan Oster.
"The recreation and personal services sector remains hardest-hit, and several other sectors saw large impacts."
"Still, conditions have remained in positive territory and are nowhere near as bad as we saw during lockdowns imposed in 2020 and 2021," said Mr Oster. "While consumers have been cautious, vaccines have provided protection and businesses have also learned to adapt the way they operate through past virus waves.”
However, business confidence rebounded 15 points in January to a reading of +3 index points after falling to -12 in December.
Confidence rose across all industries outside mining, and across all states.
"Confidence fell sharply in December as the Omicron variant began to spread, but rebounded in January, reflecting that the outbreak looks to have peaked quickly and lockdowns have been avoided," said Mr Oster.
Wall Street slips
In New York, stocks bounced between gains and losses in a volatile trading session.
The Dow Jones index closed flat, at 35,091, while the benchmark S&P 500 slid 0.3 per cent, to 4,483, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.6 per cent, to 14,045.
Facebook owner Meta Platforms extended its losses, and lost 5 per cent, after its bleak forecast last week caused a record plunge in the social media company's stock market value.
Struggling Netflix stocks fell 2 per cent after investment firm Needham said the streaming platform needed to consider drastic options including selling itself.
Peloton Interactive surged 19 per cent following reports that Amazon and Nike are exploring potential buyout offers for the stationary bike maker.
Shares of other tech titans Apple, Microsoft Corp and Google-owner Alphabet Inc were mixed.
The S&P 500 remains down more than 5 per cent so far in 2022, with investors worried the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates faster than expected.
"Buying the dip was a foregone conclusion until 2022. There is no more guaranteed buying on the dip," said Jake Dollarhide, chief executive officer of Longbow Asset Management.
"We're seeing corrections in indexes and individual securities on a daily and weekly basis."
Of 278 companies in the S&P 500 that have posted earnings as of Friday, 78.4 per cent reported above analysts' expectations, according to Refinitiv data.
Key inflation data for January is due on Thursday. Markets are now pricing in a one-in-three chance the Federal Reserve might hike by a full 50 basis points in March and that rates could reach 1.5 per cent by the end of the year.
Spirit Airlines jumped about 17 per cent after it and Frontier Group Holdings unveiled plans to create the fifth-largest US airline in a $US2.9 billion tie-up.
Commodities
On oil markets, Brent crude was down by a quarter of a per cent to $US92.45 cents.
West Texas crude was down 0.1 per cent, to $US91.20 per barrel.
Spot gold was also flat, at $US1,821.00 per ounce.
Iron ore rose $US2.80 overnight, or 1.9 per cent, to $US149.40 per tonne.
In Europe, the pan-European STOXX 600 index, Germany’s DAX and Britain's FTSE all gained around 0.7 per cent.
ABC News/Reuters
