Australian biotech market watch 07/10/09

By Tim Dean
Wednesday, 07 October, 2009

Swings and roundabouts. The All Ordinaries has seen a strong bounce today, recovering from its sharp drop Friday last week. As of 4.15pm it's up over 2% to 4,696.

Much of the gain is attributed to the Reserve Bank's surprise lift in the cash rate by 25 basis points, which is a strong indication that colour is returning to the cheeks of the Australian economy.

However, the good news didn't reach the health sector, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Health Care staying relatively level for the day, down 2.4% for the week.

Ramsay Health Care (ASX:RHC) led the way with a 1.5% drop, down 16c to $10.57. Cochlear (ASX:COH) was close behind, shedding 1.1% to $65.69. CSL (ASX:CSL) was steady at $32.64.

Vision therapeutics specialists, pSivida (ASX:PVA) lost another 3.4% to $3.67 today, down 37% from its peak of $6.29 on September 22.

It wasn't all bad news, though. Ansell (ASX:ANN) continued its run of gains over the last month, rising 12c to $10.06. Blackmores (ASX:BKL) is also up 10c from its close yesterday to $20.42.

Anti-influenza pharma company, Biota Holdings (ASX:BTA), has had a spectacular year, up an astounding 769% since January 1, and up another 2.8% to $2.91 today in a day of moderately heavy trading.