Following in the footsteps of international markets, the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has surged higher today and in afternoon trade is up 0.8% to 5,443 points.
Four shares which have done a lot of the heavy lifting are below. Here's why they have jumped higher today:
a2 Milk Company Ltd (Australia) (ASX: A2M) shares are up 3% to $2.26, despite there being no news out of the fast-growing dairy company. Bargain hunters appear to have been fighting to get hold of a2 Milk's shares following its recent drop in the wake of Bellamy's Australia Ltd's (ASX: BAL) shock market update. Investors may be working on the theory that no news is good news from a2 Milk.
Japara Healthcare Ltd (ASX: JHC) shares have jumped almost 10% to $2.17. Although there was no news out of the company, almost all aged care operators have stormed higher today. Japara has been my pick of the industry for a couple of months and even after today's gain I still believe it looks attractive. Aged care is a tricky industry, but there's no doubt that it has exceptional long-term growth due to Australia's ageing population.
Origin Energy Ltd (ASX: ORG) shares are up 3.5% to $6.64 after the energy company announced that it would spin off its upstream gas business with an IPO in 2017. The spin off will create a mid-cap geographically diversified upstream exploration and production company with proven and probable reserves of 948 petajoules equivalent and FY 2016 production of 75 petajoules. Management expects the transaction to be earnings accretive from FY 2019.
Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC) shares are up almost 4.5% to $3.03 as coal prices continue to rise. Today's gain means the coal miner's share price has now risen an astonishing 330% in 2016. But with many predicting that the price of coal will come crashing down in 2017, I would suggest investors consider locking in those profits before that happens.
