The Australian share market has finished higher, rebounding from a two-day sell-off prompted by fears that interest rates won't fall as quickly as some had hoped.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Wednesday closed up 34.2 points, or 0.45 per cent, to 7,615.8, erasing most of its losses on Tuesday.
The broader All Ordinaries rose 42 points, or 0.54 per cent, to 7,850.9.
The gains outpaced a more modest session on Wall Street, where the S&P500 rose 0.2 per cent even as Federal Reserve officials Loretta Mester and Neel Kashkari said the central bank could take its time cutting rates.
The big story on the ASX was the collapse of a merger talks between Woodside and Santos that would have created an $80 billion LNG powerhouse.
Woodside finished up 0.5 per cent to $32.46 and Santos slumped 5.8 per cent to $7.41 after the two companies said the tie-up would not go ahead.
"While the discussions with Santos did not result in a transaction, Woodside considers that the global LNG sector provides significant potential for value creation," Woodside chief executive Meg O'Neill said.
In the financial sector, NAB fell 0.2 per cent to $32.13 after chief executive Ross McEwan announced he would retire at the start of April.
NAB business and private banking chief Andrew Irvine was named as his replacement.
The other big retail banks stayed out of the red, with Westpac finishing up 0.5 per cent to $24.27, CBA adding 0.2 per cent to $114.55 and ANZ flat at $27.42.
The heavyweight mining sector rose 1.1 per cent, with Rio Tinto closing up 0.9 per cent to $129.61 and BHP and Fortescue both gaining 1.0 per cent, to $46.44 and $28.33, respectively.
Pilbara gained 5.6 per cent to $3.57 after the lithium miner announced it had extended its offtake agreement with China's Chengxin Lithium Group, a leading lithium chemical converter.
Fellow lithium miner Liontown added 5.6 per cent while Piedmont Lihtium rose 10.8 per cent after announcing steady progress at its new joint-venture mining operation in Quebec, North America's only operating spodumene mine.
Online luxury retail platform Cettire was the biggest gainer in the All Ordinaries, soaring 25.2 per cent to a more than two-year high of $3.97 after announcing its earnings were up 56 per cent to $26.1 million for the six months to December 31.
RBC Capital Markets analyst Wei-Weng Chen called it a very strong result and a big beat to consensus estimates that left Cettire cashed-up with a $100 million balance sheet as of year end.
Back in the financial sector, GQG Partners advanced 7.4 cent to a record high of $2.11 after the boutique fund manager announced it had gained $US1.9 billion in net inflows in January.
Also, Zip climbed 7.0 per cent to a year and a half high of 84c, in its third day of gains.
The buy now, pay later platform was a message board favourite during the pandemic, peaking above $12.
The Australian dollar was buying 65.30 US cents, from 65.08 at Tuesday's ASX close.
ON THE ASX:
* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished Wednesday up 34.2 points, or 0.45 per cent, to 7,615.8.
* The broader All Ordinaries gained 42 points, or 0.54 per cent, to 7,850.9
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT:
One Australian dollar buys:
* 65.30 US cents, from 65.08 US cents at Tuesday's ASX close
* 96.63 Japanese yen, from 96.57 yen
* 60.67 Euro cents, from 60.54 Euro cents
* 51.80 British pence, from 51.86 pence
* 106.99 NZ cents, from 107.22 NZ cents.
