- ASX200 closed 0.83% higher at 6834.
- Afterpay strong H1 results & capital raising.
- Australian government passes the news media bargaining code.
The Australian market closed Thursday?s session 0.83% higher at 6834 as the BHP hit a record high. The materials and Resources sectors posted the biggest gains as Sandfire Resources surged almost 11%.
Tech stocks finished the session in the green as an 8% surge for Bravura Solutions offset losses for Appen and Wisetech.
Bitcoin has shed 0.52% in the last 24-hours to trade around US$50,000 at 4:30pm AEDT.
Zip shares took a near 8% hit today after reporting a half-year loss of $455.9m after tax largely driven by one-off items including a net non-cash adjustment relating to the acquisition of QuadPay in 2020.
Afterpay shares entered a trading halt today following the release of its half-year results and a capital raising announcement to increase its ownership in Afterpay US. The BNPL giant reported a 106% growth in underlying sales, a 108% climb in income and 80% growth of active customers for H1 in FY2021.
Making headlines, the Australian government has passed a new law requiring tech giants like Google and Facebook to pay local news media outlets to publish their work in news feeds or search results.
And the New York Police Department has introduced the ?Spot? the robo-dog into its operations. The Boston Dynamics? robo-dog first helped the NYPD defuse an alleged home invasion which turned into a hostage situation in the Bronx.