Investors shook off the global geopolitical tension and instead focused on individual earnings results, sending Domino's sharply lower but the broader market higher. 

Telcos and technology stocks found healthy buying support while a dip in the oil price and iron ore futures weighed on the bigger energy and mining names.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed 0.5 per cent to 5757.5 points on Tuesday while the broader All Ordinaries each lifted 0.4 per cent to 5804 points. 

Commonwealth Bank - plagued by an AUSTRAC investigation into money laundering - traded in the red on Tuesday, while the rest of the big four banks found buying support. 

ANZ lifted its third-quarter cash profit by 5.3 per cent over the first two quarters to $1.79 billion due to stronger owner-occupier housing lending. Investors were pleased with the result and boosted the stock 1.3 per cent. 

"There still isn't a great deal of conviction in the market at the moment, though Tuesday was definitely a story about Domino's," said Romano Sala Tenna, portfolio manager at Katana Asset Management. 

"There's a few things weighing on investor minds when it comes to that company, especially with that wage investigation underway, but the stock has fallen to the point where things could be getting interesting around valuations."

Domino's closed 18.8 per cent down to $41.50 on Tuesday after the company's full-year profit came in under market expectations, and the outlook for the 2018 financial year disappointed. Over the year the share price has now slumped 36 per cent. 

While the ASX hasn't managed to push with certainty in either direction, earnings season is well underway with wealth management business Challenger reporting first thing this morning. 

Challenger stock slumped 3.9 per cent, despite its full-year net profit rose 21 per cent to $397.6 million, benefiting from record annuity sales and growth in assets under management.

"That surprised us slightly, we thought that was a fairly positive result," said Mr Sala Tenna. 

In other equities news, shares in Santos slipped 2.1 per cent after the oil and gas producer announced its plans to recognise a non-cash impairment charge of approximately $US690 million after tax in its upcoming half-year results. 

Stock Watch: SG Fleet

Shares in SG Fleet Group jumped as much as 10 per cent on Tuesday and to its highest level in nearly 10 months after the motor vehicles management company said its annual net profit rose 27 per cent to $59.6 million. Revenue climbed 38 per cent to $293.2 million. Underlying net profit increased 27 per cent to $68.7 million, the company said, just above its guidance. Even better, CEO Robbie Blau said SG Fleet has "had a promising start to the new financial year". The share price pop - its biggest in 18 months - was welcome relief for shareholders, who prior to Tuesday's heroics had suffered a 19 per cent capital loss on their investment this year. The shares ended the session up 7.5 per cent at $4.04.

Motor vehicle sales

New motor vehicle sales retreated 2 per cent in July to 99,911, but it follows four consecutive monthly increases that had taken new auto sales to a record high in June of 101,950. Annual growth slowed to 1.8 per cent in July, from 3.4 per cent in June. Falls in July were recorded across all motor-vehicle categories. Passenger and other vehicles each fell by 2.2 per cent in the month. Sports utility vehicles (SUVs) fell by 1.7 per cent. Despite the decline in SUVs in July, the growing consumer preference is for larger vehicles over sedans. SUVs fell 1.7 per cent in July, but the fall might merely be a pause for breath, after rising 9 per cent in the two months to June to a record high.

RBA minutes

The minutes from the August 1 board meeting showed the Reserve Bank weighing up a raft of factors including the strength in the labour market, likelihood of higher wages, the level of household debt, and concerns about the stronger Australian dollar. The RBA remains optimistic about the medium term prospects for the Australian economy, according to Craig James at CommSec, and aside from the obvious concern about the recent strength in the Aussie dollar, there were a number of key issue occupying their thoughts, notably the high levels of household debt and subdued wage growth.  

Consumer confidence 

Consumer confidence has fallen below its long-run average amid worries over North Korea and concerns over subdued wage growth. The latest ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Index fell 1.8 per cent to 111.7 in the week to August 13, dipping below the long-term average of 112.9. ANZ head of Australian economics David Plank said, after a period of recovery, consumer sentiment has been trending lower in recent weeks - most likely because of the war of words between the United States and North Korea. He said slow wage growth continues to weigh on consumer's minds on a broader scale, especially considering high debt levels of households and pressures from surging energy costs.

Iron ore

Steel and iron ore futures in China were down for a third day in a row on Tuesday, hitting their lowest level in more than a week, as investors cashed in on recent rapid gains after the Shanghai exchange hiked fees to tame speculative trading. The most-active rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was down 2.6 per cent at 3734 yuan a tonne in late afternoon trade.  The construction steel product, which touched a 4-1/2-year high last week, hit a session low of 3703 yuan, its weakest since August 4. But analysts say the retreat could be fleeting, with steel demand in the world's top consumer expected to remain strong as Beijing sustains infrastructure spending.