Market report: Healthcare index sneaks into positive territory for the week

The Australian stock market closed slightly down on Friday, bringing the week’s gains to a modest two percent, while healthcare and biotech stocks just edged into positive territory for the week.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index ended the day down 10 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 4681.3 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index fell 5.9 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 4740.3 points. Asian markets were mixed as investors awaited important economic data out of China.

The S&P/ASX 200 Healthcare Index gained a paltry nine points to close the week at 8211.3.

Ovarian cancer specialists Prima Biomed saw the rally of the week after investors bought in following the apointment of respected biotech champion Lucy Turnbull as its chairman.

The stock rose 12 percent following the announcement on Thursday, gaining a further 3.57 percent on Friday to close the week at $0.145. Elsewhere in the market, penny-dreadful gene silencing company Benitec continued to arouse investor’s interest following its major US patent announcements of last week.

Its shares rose 11.11 percent on Friday to close at $0.04, on volums of 11 million. Other solid performers today included respiratory experts Pharmaxis, up 7.47 percent to $2.59.

Looking at the majors, all managed to edge ahead slightly for the week despite a fair bit of selling today. Cochlear closed at $69.60, with ResMed and CSL at $32.66 and $32.86 respectively.