Updates to close

By Sameer Manekar

July 23 (Reuters) -Australian shares regained their footing on Tuesday after losing for three consecutive sessions, helped by a broad-based rally across most sectors including banks and technology, while Woodside Energy slumped nearly 4% on concerns around its latest acquisition.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO ended 0.5% higher at 7,971.1 points, roughly 110 points below its all-time high of 8,083.70 points scaled last week.

Financial stocks rebounded after three days of sharp losses as investors assessed the increasing likelihood of a rate hike by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).

A mixed jobs data report last week and still above-target inflation have raised the chances of a RBA rate hike in early August. Markets now expect a near 20% chance of a hike from 12% early last week. 0#RBAWATCH

Investors now await Australia's quarterly inflation print, due on July 31, for cues on the central bank's monetary policy trajectory.

Chris Weston, head of research at brokerage Pepperstone, said a big inflation number will mean the next meeting will be a "live" one and could either result in a rate hike or pause.

While in theory, high rates are good for banks, at the same time it means "credit demand is going to get whacked," which could cool demand sufficiently but also "raises the possibility of a policy mistake in Australia", Weston added.

The tech index .AXIJ jumped 1.6%, tracking Wall Street peers as investors rotated back to mega-cap growth stocks. Top gainers Iress IRE.AX and WiseTech Global WTC.AX added roughly 2%.

Woodside Energy shares WDS.AX declined nearly 4% despite reporting an uptick in quarterly revenue as cost overruns at Scarborough project and concerns of profitability of its recently-acquired Driftwood LNG project weighed on sentiment.

This pulled down the energy index .AXEJ, which lost 2%.

Elsewhere, the banking index .AXFJ added 0.8%, with all the "Big Four" banks gaining 0.8%-1.2%.

In New Zealand, consumer and technology firms lifted the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 0.9% to 12,425.58 points, itshighest level since February 2022.

Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Shivangi Lahiri in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema

For more information on DIARIES & DATA: U.S. earnings diary RESF/US Wall Street Week Ahead .N/O Global Economy Week Ahead DATA/ ................................................................ For latest top breaking news across all markets NEWS1