In early trade on Friday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is struggling to budge from its previous day's close. While the broader index is struggling to find momentum, ASX tech shares are ripping ahead.
At the time of writing, the benchmark index is flat at 7,511 points. Here's how the market is panning out for the final day of the week:
ASX tech shares delivering the goods
The ASX has been setting records day after day this week, but it looks like it might struggle to set another on Friday.
Unfortunately, the index is being weighed down by the big miners after iron ore prices took a tumble overnight. At the time of writing, BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX: FMG), and Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) are down 2.6%, 2.2%, and 1.9% respectively.
Meanwhile, ASX 200 tech shares appear to be insulated from the market weakness today. The sector is 2.1% higher thanks to a strong performance by Altium Ltd (ASX: ALU) and EML Payments Ltd (ASX: EML).
However, the real star of the show is Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) with a 5% gain. Accordingly, the Afterpay share price is rising higher following a good session for its acquiring company, Square Inc (NYSE: SQ), overnight.
In fact, the only ASX 200 tech share that is flashing a bright shade of red on Friday is issuer services company, Computershare Ltd (ASX: CPU).
Reporting season begins to heat up
This morning REA Group Limited (ASX: REA) reported its FY21 result. It was a reasonable result with revenue and earnings growth, however, the market must have had higher expectations. Currently, the REA share price is off by 4.6%.
Next week will see reporting season (ASX Reporting Season Calendar) begin to ramp up. Amongst a handful of big names reporting, there will also be some ASX tech shares handing down results. One such example is Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1), which is slated to deliver financials on Tuesday 10 August.
