ASX 200 wrap: 6 things to think about this weekend

ASX 200 ↑

The ASX 200 benchmark closed out Friday's session up 0.50% at 6,824 points.

This caps off a positive week for the Aussie index, with the ASX 200 gaining ~1.8% over the last five sessions.

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All Technology Index ↑

Elsewhere, the All Technology Index outperformed the ASX 200 on Friday, rising 1.12%, to trade at the 2,696 point level by the close.

Healthcare ↓

Healthcare was the worst performing sector on Friday, while Telecommunications was the best performing. The healthcare sector was weighed down by CSL – with the biotech's share price closing 0.88% lower.

On Thursday, Macquarie analysts reiterated their Neutral rating on the biotech giant, while saying that Google data suggested that foot traffic across approximately 100 of CSL's US plasma collection centres had declined in recent times.

'We continue to see plasma collection as presenting risks in relation to the near-term outlook,' Macquarie said.

TPG Share Price ↓

Despite Telecommunications being the best performing sector during the session, TPG Telecom – one of Australia’s three key telcos – saw its share price sold of heavily. This comes after the company announced that David Teoh would be stepping down from his role as Chairman and Director of TPG’s Board.

Commenting on his time at the company, Mr Teoh said:

'I am proud and humbled to have led the company from its founding, through its exciting growth over the years, and most recently into its merger with Vodafone Hutchison Australia.'

‘There have been many challenges along the way, but I firmly believe that consumers in Australia have greatly benefited from TPG's competitive business approach, and that they will continue to do so.'

At the time of writing TPG was down 6.70% to $6.41 per share, well off its 52-week high of $9.70 per share.

Chi-X

On Thursday it was revealed that global exchange operator Cboe Global Markets had reached a deal to acquire Chi-X Asia Pacific – which includes Chi-X’s Australian and Japanese operations. Chi-X is a key competitor of the Australian Stock exchange – which remains the dominant player in the market.

Commenting on the deal, CBOE’s CEO, Ed Tilly, said:

‘With the planned acquisition of Chi-X Asia Pacific, we continue to execute on our growth strategy by broadening our geographic and asset class presence while enabling the further extension of our product offerings to our global network of customers.’

According to analysis from Morgan Stanley (MS), Chi-x has an approximate 20% market share of Australia’s cash equities trading.

‘Market share gains have stalled over the past 3 years, but we think ASX may face renewed competition,’ MS analysts added.

US Markets ↑

At the time of writing, US futures – across the Wall Street, S&P 500 and the Nasdaq – all traded higher, suggesting US markets would open higher on Friday (US time).