- The ASX200 closed 0.5% higher on Friday at 7522.90 on Friday.
- Afterpay hit by Square shares dipping & Facebook Pay launch.
- Neuren Pharmaceuticals rallied on US FDA ?Orphan Drug? approval.
The Australian market rallied on Friday to close 0.5% higher at 7522.90 as the metals and mining, materials and resources sectors fuelled gains on the ASX. For the week the key index gained 0.46%.
The tech sector closed in negative territory on Friday as a 3.55% gain for Technology One was offset by heavy losses for Afterpay, Nearmap and Xero.
Bitcoin is trading just 0.52% lower over the last 24-hours at US$49,489.14 at 4:45pm AEST.
Shares in buy now, pay later leader Afterpay took a hit today as investors trade the stock in the same way as its acquirer Square?s. Overnight Square?s share price dipped on Wall St, which prompted investors to sell out of Afterpay today. Another reason the shares took a hit today is in the wake of Facebook announcing its Facebook Pay product launch in Australia to compete with the Afterpay Square Cash App.
Making headlines, Australian-based Neuren Pharmaceuticals rallied today after announcing the US FDA has granted ?orphan drug designation? to the company?s drug candidate ?NNZ-2591? which is about to enter Phase 2 clinical trials for a number of complex neurological disorders including Prader-Willi syndrome. ?Orphan drug? refers to a treatment that has been developed for extremely rare conditions so it would be unprofitable to produce without government or sponsor assistance.
And Apple?s rumoured AR/VR headset reportedly relies on an iPhone or Mac being nearby to offload more processor-heavy tasks to a connected Apple device.