Australia's largest banks and miners have provided a strong boost for the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) today, lifting it almost 1% to 5,720 points late in the session despite a weak lead set by Wall Street on Friday.
Here are four of the market's top performers today.
Sirius Resources N.L. (ASX: SIR) has seen its shares rocket 20.4% to trade at $3.90 after the nickel miner received a takeover bid from rival Independence Group NL (ASX: IGO), valuing the shares at $4.38.
The reason why the stock hasn't climbed that high today can be attributed to the fact that the transaction will be largely scrip-based (that is Sirius shareholders will receive one Independence Group share for every Sirius share currently held, in addition to a cash payment). Independence Group's shares have actually fallen by 12.3% following the announcement, negatively impacting the total value of the potential transaction.
Skilled Group Ltd. (ASX: SKE) has also jumped on confirmation of further discussions regarding a potentially sweetened takeover bid from Programmed Maintenance Services Limited (ASX: PRG). Although there is no certainty that these discussions will result in a transaction, investors are obviously confident having bid the stock 13.4% higher to trade at $1.395 each.
Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) is the third-biggest gainer from the ASX 200 group following a surge in the iron ore price overnight. According to the Metal Bulletin, iron ore jumped 3.5% to US$59.96 a tonne, defying analysts' expectations that it could be in for a heavy plunge following its strong rally through April. Fortescue's shares lifted by 3.1% to $2.175.
Prima BioMed Limited (ASX: PRR), which is not part of the ASX 200 group, has also continued its incredible rally today, jumping a further 42.9% to trade at 13 cents. The company, which has risen 491% in the last week, announced today that the iCAN software platform it uses is being commercialised for use in other cellular therapies worldwide by its developer, Database Integrations Inc. The two companies will work together to seek sub-licences for the system which could create a new revenue stream for the biotech hopeful.
