At lunch on Friday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to end the week on a positive note. The benchmark index is up 0.25% to 7,284.6 points.
Here's what is happening on the market today:
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IDP Education rockets on acquisition news
The IDP Education Ltd (ASX: IEL) share price is rocketing higher after announcing a new acquisition. The language testing company has entered into a binding agreement to acquire 100% of the British Council's Indian International English Language Testing System (BC IELTS India) operations. The two parties have agreed a fee of 130 million pounds on a debt free, cash free basis. This deal will mean that IDP Education is the sole distributor of IELTS in the key Indian market. Management also revealed that trading conditions are improving.
Westpac's $87 million bill
The Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price is trading higher today despite being hit with a $87 million bill. This morning ASIC revealed that Westpac has agreed to pay an estimated $87 million to customers who were not provided with critical information from its financial advice business. Westpac will compensate 32,000 affected customers that were impacted by failures between 2005 and 2019.
Tech shares fall
A number of tech shares have come under pressure on Friday after a subdued night of trade on the Nasdaq index. Shares such as Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) and WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC) are underperforming and acting as a drag on the ASX 200. The S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) is down by 0.5% at the time of writing.
Best and worst ASX 200 performers
The best performer on the ASX 200 today has been the IDP Education share price with a 17% gain following its acquisition announcement. The worst performer has been the Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1) share price with a 4.5% decline. This appears to have been driven by weakness in the tech sector on Friday.
