As most ASX investors would know by now, this Thursday has not been a kind one to the markets. At the time of writing, the S&P/ASX 300 Index (ASX: XKO) has suffered a horrific 1.8% plunge, pulling it down to around 8,090 points. Yet some ASX 300 shares aren't having a bad day at all.
In fact, we've seen a few ASX 300 shares even mint fresh new highs this session. Let's check out these lucky exceptions to today's savage market.
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Three ASX 300 stocks hitting new highs this Thursday
Mesoblast Ltd (ASX: MSB)
First up, we have ASX 300 biotech share Mesoblast. Get ready for this one. Mesoblast shares closed at $1.98 each yesterday afternoon. But today, those shares have exploded a whopping 48.5% higher and are currently going for $2.95. That's after Mesoblast hit a new 52-week high of $3.01 earlier this session.
As we covered this morning, this extraordinary gain comes after the company revealed that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its remestemcel-L produce, known as Ryoncil, for the treatment of mesenchymal stromal cell therapy in the United States market. Mesoblast is now in an enviable position as being the only approved treatment provider for steroid-refractory acute graft versus host disease (SR-aGvHD) in the United States.
Investors have evidently reacted accordingly, lighting a match under this company's share price.
Perenti Ltd (ASX: PRN)
Next up, and far less dramatic, we have ASX 300 mining services share Perenti. This stock closed at $1.36 a share yesterday afternoon and opened at $1.34 this morning before climbing up to a high of $1.39 this afternoon. That's also a new 52-week high for this company.
Unlike Mesoblast, there is no big news item we can point to today that might easily explain this rise. There's been no share price-sensitive news out of Perenti for a while now. Saying that, this ASX 300 share is up a huge 14.6% or so over just the past month. As such, it seems that investors aren't ready to quell this momentum today despite the falls of the broader market.
MyState Ltd (ASX: MYS)
Last, and least (in terms of gains that is), we have ASX 300 banking and finance share MyState.
The MyState share price closed at $4.17 yesterday, opened at $4.18 this morning, and pushed up to a high of $4.26. Again, that's also a new 52-week high for this ASX 300 share.
As is the case with Perenti, there isn't any big news out of MyState today that we can point to as an obvious catalyst for this fresh 52-week high this session.
However, as we covered earlier this week, MyState has recently received some love from an ASX broker. We looked at Ord Minnett's views, which argue that MyState is a compelling investment thanks to its strong earnings growth potential and massive dividend yield.
It's possible that investors have taken note of this optimism and are bidding this ASX 300 share higher as a result.
