At lunch on Friday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to end the week on a high. The benchmark index is currently up 0.4% to 6,738.2 points.
Here's what has been happening on the market today:
Tech shares storm higher.
The tech sector has been doing some of the heavy lifting on Friday. Solid gains by the likes of Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) and Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) have helped drive the S&P ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) 1.5% higher at lunch. This has been driven by a strong rise on the Nasdaq index overnight following the Democrat's victory in the battle for the Senate. The technology-focused index rose over 2.5% to close above the 13,000 points mark for the first time.
Bank shares push higher.
Also doing some of the heavy lifting today are the big four banks. All four banks are on the rise on Friday and helping drive the ASX 200 higher. The best performers in the group have been National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) shares. The two banks are up a sizeable 1.1% at the time of writing.
Harvey Norman multi-year high.
The Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (ASX: HVN) share price has continued its positive run and hit a multi-year high of $4.90 on Friday. The retail giant's shares have been on fire over the last few months after delivering stellar sales growth during the pandemic. This latest gain means the Harvey Norman share price is now up 40% over the last six months.
Best and worst performers.
The best performer on the ASX 200 on Friday has been the Bingo Industries Ltd (ASX: BIN) share price with a 5% gain on no news. The worst performer has been the Charter Hall Group (ASX: CHC) share price with a 3.5% decline. A number of real estate companies have come under pressure on Friday and are dropping lower.
