Market report: Healthcare index up as wider market falls

In a reversal of last week's pattern, the S&P ASX/200 Healthcare Index put on a strong showing to finish the week today well into positive territory while the wider market fell to snap its three week winning streak.

Ordinary economic data out of the US and Europe was seen as the main reason for local investors opting for a bit of profit taking, with mining stocks giving up of some of last week’s gains despite rising metals prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 Index closed down 31.7 points to 4601.9, while the broader All Ordinaries Index lost 28.5 points to close the week at 4651.5 points.

A defiant local health and biotech sector staged a strong week, though, pushing the index up more than 220 points to close at 8335.1. Market leader CSL was a major driver, adding just under two dollars, or over five percent, to close the week at $33.84. However, Cochlear finished the week slightly weaker, down 23 cents to $71.15, while ResMed remained fairly steady at $32.35.

Looking at today’s best and worst performers, personalised medicine specialist ChemGenex was among the leaders adding 8.57 percent to close the day at $0.38, while Novogen rose 8.33 percent to $0.13. Also up, stem cell company Mesoblast jumped 5.88 percent to close at $2.70, as investors responded to shareholders approval of the company’s acquisition of US subsidiary Angioblast.

Looking at the down-side, there was little in the way of bad news today really. Neurological disease specialists Prana Biotechnology slipped a cent to close at $0.13.