Market report: Biotechs up for third week in a row

The S&P/ASX 200 Heathcare Index closed in the black on Friday for the third week in a row, as the wider market slipped for the second week in a row.

It closed the week up two percent to 8665.9 points, while the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 31.2 points to 4598.

Biotech performer of the week was Cochlear which managed a gain of eight percent to close the week on $78.75. Things weren’t so bright for the other majors, with ResMed down 47 cents to $32.18, while market leader CSL added just 27 cents to close at $35.00.

Like the broader market, volumes were also thin for biotechs on Friday.

Looking at the best and worst performers, biologics company Circadian technologies fell 8.15 percent to $0.62 while antibody specialists Patrys closed the day down 4.76 percent to $0.10.

Among the stocks heading north, biomarker and diagnostics company Healthlinx gained 6.33 percent to $0.084, while spray-on-skin specialists Avita Medical gained 4.76 percent to close Friday on $0.10.