Australia's S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO)(ASX: XJO) and ALL ORDINARIES (Index: ^AXAO) (ASX: XAO) indices finished higher on Friday.
Here's a quick recap of global markets:
- FTSE 100 (UK): up 0.3%
- DAX (Germany): up 0.4%
- CAC 40 (France): up 0.7%
- Dow Jones (USA): up 0.6%
- NASDAQ (USA): up 0.8%
Here are today's key stats:
- ASX 200: up 0.9%
- All Ordinaries: up 0.8%
- Australian dollar (A$) (AUDUSD): 73.90 cents
- Gold price: down 0.5%
- WTI Crude Oil: down 0.6%
- Iron ore: Down 1.8% to $US55.97 per tonne, according to The Metal Bulletin
Leading the ASX higher were shares of Suncorp Group (ASX: SUN) and mining company Alumina Limited (ASX: AWC). Yesterday, Suncorp held its investor day presentations. However, no material news was released by Alumina.
Further down the market, NIB Holdings Limited (ASX: NHF) rebounded from its recent selloffs following news of legal battle with the ACCC, while Platinum Asset Management Limited (ASX: PTM) ended 3.2% higher. In the small cap space, lithium miner Orocobre Limited (ASX: ORE) traded 5% higher while skincare technology business OBJ Limited (ASX: OBJ) ended 7.7% higher.
Holding back the ASX were shares Blackmores Limited (ASX: BKL) and AGL Energy Ltd (ASX: AGL). AGL, the energy business, finished 3.9% lower after Macquarie analysts slapped the company's shares with an underperform rating.
Meanwhile, Blackmores recently confirmed that will move into the marijuana industry.
Here are today's top stories:
