The S&P / ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) staged a late rally this afternoon to add 0.4% after starting the day lower, with several leading ASX companies putting on decent gains for different reasons.
Let's take a look at what may be behind the price moves of some of the market's biggest movers by percentage points.
The AMP Limited (ASX: AMP) share price finished up an impressive 7% to $2.47, but still remains down more than 50% over the course of 2018. This morning AMP's board and management released a response to some stinging criticism from institutional investors about its divestment and restructure plans. In the rebuttal AMP emphasised how the decision to sell its life insurance business was out of a desire to reduce its capital intensity and that all options had been considered in terms of a restructure. It also commented that it believed it had achieved a good price for the sale of its life insurance arm.
The Medibank Private Ltd (ASX: MPL) share price climbed 3% to $2.79 despite the private health insurance provider releasing no specific news to the market. For financial year 2018 the insurer handed in a net profit of $445.1 million and claimed to be "back on track" after a tough couple of years. The share price remains down around 10% over the past year.
The Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) share price climbed 2% to $5.47 despite the airline releasing no specific news to investors. Qantas benefits as oil prices fall via a reduced fuel bill, but recent rises in oil prices mean the group is expecting its fuel bill to be $860 million higher in FY 2019 than FY 2018. It has also flagged that FY 2019 has seen a good start operationally and today's move is likely a result of improved sentiment about the outlook for the global economy.
The Lynas Corporation Ltd (ASX: LYC) share price soared 6% to $2.08 after the Malaysia based rare earths miner reported that it still expects to be involved with the upcoming public hearing into the environmental soundness of rare earth mining operations in Malaysia.
