At lunch on Monday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has fought back from an early decline and is storming higher. The benchmark index is currently up 0.5% to 5,955.9 points.
Here's what is happening on the market today:
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CSL signs COVID-19 vaccine agreements.
The CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price is pushing higher today after announcing two COVID-19 vaccine agreements. The biotherapeutics company signed an agreement with the Australian Government to supply 51 million doses of University of Queensland's potential UQ-CSL V451 COVID-19 vaccine. It also signed an agreement with AstraZeneca for the expected manufacture of approximately 30 million doses of the Oxford University vaccine candidate AZD1222 for supply to Australia. These are both pending successful clinical trials.
Tech rout over?
After a couple of tough days, there are signs that the tech sector rout may be over. The S&P/ASX 200 Information Technology index tumbled 2.5% lower this morning but is now almost trading flat. The Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price is playing a key role in this recovery. It was down almost 5% in early trade but is now less than 1% lower. I suspect bargain hunters may be swooping in after some sizeable declines in the sector.
Big four bank shares higher.
One group of shares that have started the week strongly are the banks. All the big four banks are pushing notably higher today and are helping to drive the ASX 200 higher. The best performer in the group has been the Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price with a gain of almost 2.5%.
Best and worst ASX 200 performers.
The best performer on the ASX 200 on Monday has been the Virgin Money UK PLC (ASX: VUK) share price with a gain of 5%. This is despite there being no news out of the UK-based bank. The worst performer is the Mesoblast limited (ASX: MSB) share price with a 4% decline. This appears to be due to profit taking after some very strong gains in recent months.
