ASX200 up 8 points (0.1%) to 6596.
- Afterpay (+2.5%); have you seen the chart !!
- Downer (+1.3%); has agreed to sell 70% of its laundries business to Australian private equity firm Adamantem Capital for $155m, removing one of its most capital-intensive units from its balance sheet.
- Mesoblast (+9%); announced that the USFDA has granted Fast Track designation for remestemcel-L in the treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) due to COVID-19 infection.
- Regional Express (+3.2%); will soon enter Australia’s domestic aviation industry to rival Qantas and Virgin and create cheaper flights. Sydney/Melbourne flights start on March 1 with tickets from $79.
- Westpac (-0.2%); announced it will sell Westpac General Insurance to Allianz (for $725m) and enter into an exclusive 20 year agreement for the distribution of general insurance products to Westpac’s customers.
- Worley (-3.8%); has cut headcount to 49,200 since June. Cuts will continue.
- Zip Co (-1.5%); said November transactions +44% vs October. Added 464,000 customers in November.
….as we know, Tesla is being added to the S+P on Dec 21. Since this was announced Tesla is up approx. 42% (my maths, so be careful). I dug out this old headline from the Wall Street Journal from Dec 7 1999;
“Shares of Yahoo! Surge 24% As Stock Is Added to S&P 500”
It’s déjà vu all over again……
