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Health and REITs defy downbeat ASX; Rio Tinto CEO gone

Summary

  • The ASX 200 fell by as much as 1.2% to an 11-week low at Friday's open on a weak Wall Street lead. The market was last 0.7% lower. 
  • Rio Tinto boss Jean-Sébastien Jacques and two senior executives will be replaced after an investor revolt in the wake of the Juukan Gorge furore
  • Victoria recorded 43 new cases of coronavirus overnight, an improvement on Thursday's figure of 51. Nine more people have died. NSW has 10 new cases. 
  • Asian markets were mixed. The Hang Seng and Nikkei were higher, while the KOSPI, CSI300 and Shanghai Composite were down. US futures were up 0.6% at 2.15pm AEST

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Gains for CSL, Goodman, Whitehaven in downbeat session

By Alex Druce

The ASX 200 is a sea of red on Friday but there are a few pockets of gains, most notably in the health and property sectors.

The ASX 200 was 0.8 per cent lower at 1.40pm AEST and on track for a fourth straight weekly loss.

The $128 billion biotech CSL is ahead 0.4 per cent at $283.04 and helping health stocks higher.

CSL is joined in the black by Sonic Healthcare, up 1.7 per cent at $32.54, Ramsay Health Care, up 0.1 per cent at $64.48, and Cochlear, up 0.8 per cent at $191.42.

Property firm Goodman Group is up 1.4 per cent at $18.18 as the real estate sector also moves ahead. Dexus has gained 0.4 per cent to $9.03 and Stockland is 0.1 per cent higher at $3.62. GPT Group is up 0.3 per cent at $3.87.

The biggest gainer on Friday was the downbeat Whitehaven Coal. The energy firm rose 6.8 per cent to 90 cents after thermal coal prices lifted overnight.

CommSec says the spot thermal coal price at Port of Newcastle lifted by 1.9 per cent to $US49.75, and by 1 per cent to $56.80 at Richards Bay in South Africa.

Whitehaven has still lost about two-thirds of its value in 2020.

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