The S&P / ASX 200 closed down around 0.4% today as investors continue to worry about the US / China trade war and potential impact of mid-term elections in the US. However, there are several well known shares heading higher to make for a happy start to the week for their investors. Let's take a look at what might have been encouraging buyers of some today's top performers.
The TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPM) share price is up 3.3% to $7.77 today despite the home broadband and mobile phone services provider giving no news to the market. TPG recently announced an agreement to merge with Vodafone Australia in a deal that may be beneficial to both businesses given the potential cost savings. However, the competition regulator the ACCC is yet to approve the deal and approval is far from guaranteed, which is probably why the share price is seeing a lot volatility recently.
The iSentia Group Ltd (ASX: ISD) share price is up 4% to 26 cents today, but still down more than 70% over the course of 2018 alone. The rebound may be the result of bargain hunters buying shares in anticipation of the media monitoring business being able to turn its performance around. As at June 30 2018 the group's net debt stood at $43.1 million after the disastrous acquisition of the King Content business that sunk its share price. iSentia is forecasting EBITDA in the "low to mid $20m range" for financial year 2019.
The Platinum Asset Management Limited (ASX: PTM) share price bucked the market trend to rise 1.35% to $5.27 today despite the international asset manager revealing no specific news to the market. The Platinum share price is probably rising on hopes the US and China are moving towards a trade deal that would see the removal of some US tariffs. Platinum is heavily exposed to Asian equities, some of which have been battered because of the dispute.
The Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) share price also moved 1.6% higher to $79.61 today, despite the Pilbara-based iron ore miner not releasing any specific news to the market. The iron ore price has been in an uptrend since August 2018 and shares in Rio have followed it higher. The group is also in the midst of a US$3.2 billion share buy-back that is likely supporting its share price.
