The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) fell by 0.9% today to 5,937 points.
Today's economic news was supplied by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The data organisation said that total employment decreased by 227,700 people to 12.15 million people. Full-time employment decreased by 89,100 people whilst part-time employment decreased by 138,600 people.
The unemployment rate increased by 0.7 percentage points to 7.1% and the participation rate decreased by 0.7 percentage points to 62.9%. Monthly hours worked in all jobs decreased by 12.1 million hours to 1,604.7 million hours.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison warned today that it would take around two years to get back to pre-coronavirus employment levels.
Despite that negative news, some ASX shares managed to hit new heights:
Pushpay Holdings Ltd (ASX: PPH) share price jumps 10%
Electronic donation business Pushpay held its annual general meeting (AGM) today. The share price rose by 10% after providing an update. It'll be headed for the ASX 200 soon enough if it keeps rising like this.
The company reminded investors of its strong performance during FY20. This included a 32% increase of total revenue to US$129.8 million. The gross margin rose from 60% to 65% and the earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and foreign currency (EBITDAF) increased by 1,506% to US$25.1 million.
The company is seeing an increase in demand for Pushpay's services.
The big cause for the Pushpay share price growth today was because the company increased its guidance for the year ending 31 March 2021. Management were previously guiding that EBITDAF would be between US$48 million to US$52 million for FY21. That guidance was increased to between US$50 million to US$54 million.
Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price hits new record
The ASX 200 buy now, pay later business almost hit a share price of $60 in the morning, it finished up by 0.2%.
My colleague James Mickleboro covered two potential reasons why the Afterpay share price may have jumped.
The first was a broker note from Ord Minnett that said the share price could reach $64.70 over the next 12 months.
The other possible reason was that Afterpay emailed its customers today about the integration with Apple Pay.
Splitit Ltd (ASX: SPT) share price goes crazy
The Splitit share price ended the day up 108.3% to finish at $1.38. What caused this massive increase in the valuation of Splitit? An agreement with Mastercard.
The buy now, pay later business announced that it has signed a multi-year agreement with Mastercard to accelerate the adoption of its instalment system around the world.
Splitit will be integrated into Mastercard's suite of technology as a network partner for merchants both in store and online.
However, Splitit warned that at this point in time it isn't able to determine how economically material the partnership will be due to the "contingent nature" of results that may be generated.
Mastercard executive vice president of global merchant solutions and partnerships Zahir Khoja sounded positive about the deal, "This partnership with Splitit will help to drive higher transaction volumes for businesses and deliver budgeting solutions in the moment consumers are seeking them."
The largest ASX 200 movements of the day
It was a mixed day in the ASX 200.
At the green end: the Perenti Global Ltd (ASX: PRN) share price went up 4.3%, the Austal Limited (ASX: ASB) share price went up 3.7%, the QBE Insurance Group Ltd (ASX: QBE) share price climbed 3.6%, the SKYCITY Entertainment Group Limited (ASX: SKC) share price rose 3.1% and the Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) share price gained 3%.
However, there were also some negative movements. The Vocus Group Ltd (ASX: VOC) share price dropped 6.25%, the CSR Limited (ASX: CSR) share price fell 5.4%, the Polynovo Ltd (ASX: PNV) share price declined 5.3%, the Southern Cross Media Group Ltd (ASX: SXL) share price went down 5% and the AP Eagers Ltd (ASX: APE) share price fell by just under 5%.
