The Australian share market has rallied in late trade following the unemployment rate falling to the lowest in more than a decade and China cut borrowing costs again.
At midday, most sectors remained in the red despite the unemployment rate falling to the lowest since August 2008.
However, in the last hour of trade, the market rebounded, with miners and energy stocks leading the way.
Utilities and health care stocks also ended higher, while among the losing sectors were telecommunications companies, consumer stocks and banks.
The All Ordinaries index added nearly 0.2 per cent, to 7,669, while the ASX 200 index rose 0.14 per cent, to 7,342.
Miners were the 10 top-performing stocks on the ASX 200.
Big miners BHP (+3.1pc) and Rio Tinto (+3.2pc) rose on higher iron ore prices.
Iron ore prices were boosted after China once again cut interest rates, with the borrowing costs for one- and five-year prime rate loans falling.
China has lowered key policy rates this week to boost its economy.
BHP investors will vote tonight on whether or not to unify the miner's corporate structure with Australia as the company's primary share market listing.
Gold miner Northern Star Resources (+11.2pc) was the best performer on the ASX 200 after a strong production report and a rise in the price of gold.
The worst performer on the ASX 200 index was transport firm Kelsian Group (-5.7pc).
Virtus Health jumped 7.6 per cent after it received a $609-million takeover offer from European private equity firm CapVest Partners.
Shares in payment giant Block, previously called Square, listed on the ASX after Square took over buy now, pay later firm Afterpay for $39 billion.
Woodside record revenue
As oil and gas prices jumped by more than half, Woodside Petroleum saw record quarterly sales revenue.
Its sales revenue jumped by 86 per cent, to $US2.85 billion, from the September to December quarters.
It also reversed impairments on its Pluto and Scarborough projects and the North-West Shelf.
Woodside agreed to merge with BHP's petroleum business in November.
On the back of its results, Woodside shares rose 1.5 per cent.
Rival Santos also saw record annual production and record sales revenue after it took over Papua New Guinea based Oil Search.
Qantas pay row
Qantas has applied to the Fair Work Commission to terminate an enterprise bargaining agreement with long haul cabin crew, a move criticised by aviation unions.
If approved by the commission, unions said the move could see wages cut by 30 to 50 per cent while a new agreement is negotiated.
Qantas said it wanted to change "restrictive and outdated rostering processes".
The move comes after six months of negotiation with the Flight Attendants' Association of Australia over a new enterprise agreement, which was rejected by the union and 97 per cent of crew who voted.
Meanwhile, the Transport Workers Union accused Qantas of being a "dictator" that was attacking cabin crew "heroes."
"They have been on the frontline of the pandemic since the early days, and have faced stand-downs [of] up to 20 months, far longer than any other industry."
Qantas received nearly $900 million in JobKeeper wage subsidy payments during the pandemic and other COVID-19 assistance from the federal government.
It said the rejected four-year deal included a pay increase and increased allowances in return for more flexible rostering.
Under the current workplace agreement, Qantas International crew are limited to working on Airbus A330s only, or on Airbus A380s and Boeing 787s.
Qantas said the changes it seeks would see all crew trained to work across all three aircraft.
Qantas shares fell 1 per cent to $5.04.
Omicron hits airports
Sydney Airport said the rapid spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant had seen the number of passengers fall in December by 70 per cent from the same time in 2019.
It said that, for the first 15 days of January, international passenger numbers fell around 85 per cent and domestic passengers fell about 58 per cent from the same time in 2019.
Westpac predicts August rate rise
Meanwhile, Westpac chief economist Bill Evans is now predicting that the Reserve Bank could raise official interest rates in August this year by 0.15 per cent, from a record low of 0.1 per cent, to 0.25 per cent.
The bank is also predicting a second rate rise in October, bringing official rates to 0.5 per cent.
Mr Evans had previously forecast that the first official rate rise would be early next year.
He noted that RBA governor Dr Philip Lowe has firmly indicated that he does not expect to be raising rates until very late 2023 or 2024.
However, the market is now predicting a June 2022 rate rise.
Nasdaq correction
The technology-focused Nasdaq Composite index entered correction territory, down 10.7 per cent from its record closing high in November.
A correction is confirmed when an index closes 10 per cent or more below its record peak.
It is the fourth correction for the Nasdaq since the coronavirus pandemic began.
Tech heavyweights Apple, Tesla and Amazon weighed on the index.
Technology stocks have relied on cheap borrowing to expand, so the prospect of rising interest rates hurts their growth prospects.
Results from Morgan Stanley and Bank of America were well received by investors as were reports from United Health and Procter & Gamble as fourth-quarter earnings season picks up.
Bank of America said quarterly profit rose by one third, while Morgan Stanley's fourth-quarter profit was better than expected.
Stocks have gotten off to a rocky start in 2022 on concerns that the US Federal Reserve will become aggressive in controlling inflation.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 156 points, or 1 per cent, to 35,029, the S&P 500 fell 1 per cent, to 4,533, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 1.2 per cent, to 14,340.
US Treasury yields fell back from two year highs.
The 10-year US Government fell 2.3 basis points, to 1.854 per cent.
Investors are awaiting next week's Federal Reserve policy meeting for guidance on the central bank's plan to tackle inflation.
The Fed has indicated it will raise interest rates several times this year.
In Europe, the FTSE 100 index rose 0.4 per cent, to 7,590, the DAX in Germany rose 0.24 per cent, to 15,810, and the CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.6 per cent, to 7,173.
Commodity prices rise
Oil prices rose for a fourth day after a fire on a pipeline from Iraq to Turkey briefly stopped production.
And the International Energy Agency said global oil demand is on track to hit pre-pandemic levels.
Brent crude oil put on 0.7 per cent, to $US88.08 a barrel.
Spot gold rose on a lower greenback and a rise in political tensions over Russia and Ukraine.
It increased 1.7 per cent, to $US1,842.45 an ounce.
Iron ore prices added 2.3 per cent, to $US130.20 a tonne.
ABC/Reuters
