Home / ASX soars above Omicron concerns with 1.3% gain

Market surge continues, Magellan founder speaks, Telstra dominates
 
The S&P/ASX200 (ASX: XJO) continued its positive run, gaining another 1.3 per cent with every sector of the market finishing higher.
 
The standouts were the technology, communications and materials sector, which all gained 2.1 per cent.
 
The buy now pay later companies finally saw a reprieve, with Zip Co (ASX: Z1P) topping the market after gaining 10.9 per cent and Afterpay (ASX: APT) up 4.2 per cent in the sessions.
 
Shares in under pressure biotech researcher Mesoblast (ASX: MSB) also gained 10 per cent after more positive news on their clinical trials during the week.
 
Iron ore shares gained significantly as analysts turned bullish following the Chinese Government announcing they would loosen the credit restrictions.
 
The news comes as the collapse of Evergrande appears to be managed closely to avoid any systemic risk.
 
Westpac (ASX: WBC) underperformed the market after announcing another 30 basis point increases in their fixed-rate mortgages.
 
Shares in Sydney Airport (ASX: SYD) fell 0.6 per cent after management confirmed no dividend would be paid once again, with the company in the midst of a takeover.
 
Telstra secures 5G spectrum, Douglass separation, Woodside pivots to clean
 
Shares in Magellan Financial Group (ASX: MFG) appear to have found a bottom with the company gaining 4.3 per cent.
 
The rally came after Hamish Douglass made the unexpected move of disclosing his separation from his wife amid rumours flowing through market circles.
 
It is a slow news day when the personal life of CEOs is driving the headlines, but many in the industry saw it as an important announcement, nonetheless.
 
Both confirmed they had no intention of selling down their shareholding in Magellan.
 
Telstra (ASX: TLS) gained 1.3 per cent after announcing they had secured the maximum amount of 5G spectrum in the latest auctions.
 
The group spent $616 million to solidify their dominant coverage and network quality position.
 
Woodside Petroleum (ASX: WPL) shares gained over 2 per cent after CEO Meg O’Neill unveiled the target for the company to invest $7.2 billion into ‘new energy’ markets whilst remaining committed to LNG.
 
Fortescue (ASX: FMG) also agreed to partner with AGL to examine a green hydrogen plant in the Hunter Valley. 
 
Market stutters after record gains, Apple’s supply slowdown, crypto leaders grilled
 
Overseas markets have taken a breather overnight, with the best two day run this year for the Dow Jones underperformed as the market gained 0.1 per cent.
 
The Nasdaq continues to dominate, adding 0.6 as bond rates remain low, with the S&P500 sitting in between at 0.3 per cent.
 
Bargain hunting investors pulled back on buying despite positive news from both Pfizer (NYSE: PFI) and BioNTech (NYSE: BNT) showing that a third dose of the vaccine combatted the impacts of the Omicron variant.
 
The travel sector remained strong behind United (NYSE: UAL) and American Airlines (NYSE: AAL) which gained 4 and 2 per cent.
 
Apple (NYSE: AAPL) added another 2 per cent despite reports that production of iPhones and iPads in China was down some 20 per cent due to a lack of supply of important digital inputs.
 
Shares in Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) were broadly flat as the crypto sector continues to testify to Congress in an effort to stem the growing pressure for a significant increase in regulation of the sector.
 
Finally, streaming platform Roku (NYSE: ROKU) surged nearly 19 per cent after announcing they had finally agreed on a deal with Alphabet (NYSE: GOOGLE) to maintain the YouTube TV app on their digital streaming platform.