News: MQG Mining boost, Macquarie's outlook help Australia shares rebound

Feb 8 (Reuters) - Australia shares rose on Tuesday, as strong iron ore prices drove gains among mining stocks, while Macquarie Group climbed 5.6% after the financial conglomerate posted an upbeat annual outlook on better market conditions.

The S&P/ASX 200 index (xjo) was up 0.9% at 7,174.2, as of 0030 GMT. The benchmark closed 0.1% lower on Monday.

Miners .AXMM led the gains with a 2.5% climb on the back of strong iron ore prices following demand optimism from China after its state planner called for faster infrastructure construction.

Heavyweights BHP Group (BHP) , Rio Tinto (RIO) and Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) advanced between 2.5% and 2.8%.

Financial stocks .AXFJ were up 0.4%, despite losses in two of the "Big Four" banks, as Macquarie Group (MQG) , which does not disclose profit figures in quarterly updates, flagged a "record" quarter, driven by profit contribution from its market-facing businesses and an improvement in overall trading conditions.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) and National Australia Bank (NAB) lost marginally, while Westpac (WBC) and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) gained 0.7% and 0.5%, respectively.

Suncorp Group (SUN) advanced 4.8% after its first-half cash earnings beat Citi's estimates, and the insurer set a natural hazard cost estimate below the lower end of an earlier forecast range.

Gold miners .AXGD gained 1.2% amid strong bullion prices, with Newcrest Mining (NCM) and Northern Star (NST) adding about 1.4% each.

Bucking the positive trend, the technology sector dropped 1.2%, tracking a lower finish on Wall Street's tech-heavy Nasdaq index.

Australia-listed shares of Block Inc SQ.N sank 6.2%, while Computershare (CPU) slipped 3.4%.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index (nz50) was up 0.1% at 12,295.48 points.