ASX200 within 4% of record highs; Big miners rise; Afterpay hits $156

Summary

• The ASX 200 built on last week’s gains with a 0.9% jump to 6900. The market hit a new 11-month intraday high as the mining giants, banks, and Afterpay rose
• Wall Street climbed into the weekend amid strong corporate earnings, stimulus hopes, and the rollout of the coronavirus vaccine. E-Mini futures for the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq were last up by between 0.4% and 0.6% and pointing to gains in the US tonight 
• Vocus Group this morning confirmed it has received a $3.4b takeover offer at $5.50 per share from Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets Holdings. Shares jumped by more than 19% to a four-year high $5.22
• Global e-commerce juggernaut Amazon has broken through the billion-dollar revenue mark in Australia after its revenue doubled during 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic