ASX at open: miners surge, Macquarie posts 'record quarter', Suncorp beats earnings

The ASX is up 0.8%, swimming against the bearish reversal that took place on Wall Street overnight. 

11 ASX Sectors at 10:50 am AEDT

Iron ore stocks rally as China returns 

Iron ore prices extended gains, up 1.9% to US$149.40 as China returns from its week-long Lunar New Year holiday. 

Traders told Fastmarkets that there were more inquiries for seaborne cargos since Monday, signaling that “iron ore prices will most likely trend higher, at least for this week.”

Iron ore majors are pulling the market higher, including:

• BHP (ASX: BHP) 3.5%

• Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) 3%

• Fortescue Metals Group (ASX: FMG) 2.7%

• Champion Iron (ASX: CIA) 4.2%

Tech: another day, another decline

Wall Street paved the way for another weak session for local tech stocks. 

Major US names like Block, Facebook-parent Meta and Alphabet fell sharply overnight, down -5.6%, -5.1% and -2.9%. 

Unsurprisingly, Block (ASX: SQ2) is leading the tech sector lower, down -6%. Other notable losers include:

• REA (ASX: REA) -3.6%

• Computershare (ASX: CPU) -3%

• Appen (ASX: APX) -2.9%

Earnings roundup 

• Suncorp (ASX: SUN) rallied 3.5% despite profits taking a hit. 19 separate weather events resulted in $205m more than expected claims in the first-half of FY22. Group net profit after tax fell -20.8% to $338m but ahead of Bell Potter and Citi forecasts of $267.6m

• Shopping Centres Australasia Property Group (ASX: SCP) shares are up 4% after earnings per share (EPS) rose 29.6% in the first-half. The company expects full-year FY22 EPS growth of no less than 20.5%

• Charter Hall Long Wale REIT (ASX: CLW) EPS grew 5.6% in the first-half of FY22 to 15.3 cents. The REIT expects FY22 EPS growth of no less than 4.5% for the full FY22 

• Macquarie Group (ASX: MQG) shares jumped 4.5% after reporting a record December quarter, driven by its commodities and global markets (CGM) and Macquarie Capital businesses 

• Dexus Convenience Retail REIT (ASX: DXC) posted funds from operations growth of 25.9% in the first-half of FY22. The REIT reaffirmed its full year guidance and distributions of 23.1 cents per share, up 5.5% on FY21