At lunch on Friday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to claw back some of yesterday's declines. The benchmark index is currently up a sizeable 1.1% to 5,882.8 points.
Here's what has been happening on the market today:
Big four banks jump.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC), and the rest of the big four are helping to drive the ASX 200 higher on Friday. At lunch all four banks are pushing notably higher following strong gains by their U.S. counterparts overnight. The likes of Bank of America, JPMorgan, Citi, and Wells Fargo all climbed more than 3%. The Westpac share price is the best performer in the group at the time of writing with a 3% gain.
Qantas completes institutional placement.
The Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) share price has crashed lower after returning from its trading halt. This morning Qantas revealed that it has successfully completed its ~$1.4 billion placement through the issue of approximately 372.7 million new shares to institutional investors at a price of $3.65 per new share. This represents a 12.9% discount to its last close price. Qantas received high levels of interest from both existing institutional shareholders and new investors.
IOOF named as a buy.
The IOOF Holdings Limited (ASX: IFL) share price is zooming higher on Friday after Credit Suisse named the financial services company as a buy. According to a note out of the investment bank, it has retained its outperform rating and lifted the price target on its shares to $5.50. The broker made the move after increasing its earnings forecasts to reflect stronger than expected equity markets.
Best and worst ASX 200 shares.
The best performer on the ASX 200 on Friday has been the IOOF share price with a massive 11% gain. This follows Credit Suisse's positive broker note. The worst performer has been the Qantas share price with a 7.5% decline after returning from its trading halt.
