The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) finished the week on a positive note. It went up 0.5% today.
Australia continues to be on a good path regarding the spread of the coronavirus. In today's press conference a number of things were mentioned including the release of workplace national principles, the national cabinet has abandoned the 1.5m rule for classrooms, aged care homes are being asked to reduce visiting restrictions and the Federal Parliament will come back in mid-May.
Testing will soon be expanded nationwide and it seems the country is headed for the lifting of restrictions earlier than expected.
Here are some of the ASX 200 share market highlights of the day:
ASX 200 travel shares soar
Some of the strongest performers today were travel shares that appear to be reacting to the positive news about Australia.
The Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB) share price rose by 9.7% today.
The Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD) share price increased by 6.8%.
The Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) share price grew by 4.2%.
They are still a long way below where they were a few months ago, but it's a positive step.
APA Group (ASX: APA)
The ASX 200 infrastructure giant announced that it priced EUR600 million of medium-term notes.
The proceeds will be used to repay debt maturing in July 2020 and for general corporate purposes, including possible pre-funding of future debt maturities. The 10-year notes have a fixed coupon rate of 2% per annum.
This move increases liquidity, increases the average portfolio term to 6.5 years and reduces APA's average cost of debt to around 5.2%. The notes are expected to settle at the end of April 2020.
Its share price went up 0.7% today.
More resource quarterly production reports
Australia's biggest resource companies continue to release their quarterly production numbers to the market.
The share price of Western Areas Ltd (ASX: WSA) fell almost 2% in response to its report.
Meanwhile the share price of Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MIN) dropped 3.5% in reaction to its own quarterly report.
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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Corporate Travel Management Limited and Webjet Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of APA Group. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Flight Centre Travel Group Limited. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.
