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The Aussie sharemarket closed higher, as the ASX 200 rose 16.1pts or 0.23 per cent to 7151.8. Seven (of 11) sectors finished in positive territory while the energy sector weighed. In weekly terms however the local market snapped three straight weeks of gains to close 0.1 per cent lower.

Pendal Group (PDL) finished 15.5 per cent higher for the week, while Perpetual (PPT) finished 22.6 per cent lower to be the best and worst performers following a court decision on PPT’s acquisition of PDL. Lithium miners Core Lithium (CXO) and Allkem (AKE) cooled from recent all-time highs to be among the worst performers in the week. Iron ore miners were the notable group of best weekly performers as Champion Iron (CIA) added 15.2 per cent and Fortescue Metals (FMG) added 12.4 per cent.

In company news, OZ Minerals (OZL) received a ‘best and final’ revised acquisition offer from BHP Group (BHP) for $28.25 per OZL share, a 13 per cent increase on BHP’s original offer price. This places OZL’s enterprise value at $9.6 billion. OZL’s Board ‘intends to unanimously recommend’ the offer to OZL shareholders. OZL finished among the best performers after emerging from a trading halt with a 4 per cent gain. BHP finished 0.3 cent higher.

Lovisa Holdings (LOV) shed 7.1 per cent to be the worst performer after providing a trading update. Sales grew 60% on the prior corresponding period, with like-for-like sales increasing by 16.1 per cent. LOV has opened 100 new stores in the last 12 months, with 676 stores globally.

 

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Rio Tinto (RIO) advised it will proceed with the proposed acquisition of 49 per cent of NYSE-listed Turquoise Hill resources for C$43 per share. This is despite unsuccessfully negotiating some agreement terms with Turqouise Hill’s Special Committee on behalf of minority shareholders. RIO rose modestly to close 0.2 per cent higher.

In the coming week, the highlight is a speech from the Reserve Bank (RBA) Governor. A quieter week lies ahead for US and Chinese financial markets. US economic data is concentrated between Monday-Wednesday ahead of Thanksgiving Day holiday on Thursday.

Today, 3.3bn shares were traded, worth $7.7bn. 642 stocks rose, 683 fell while 402 finished unchanged.

Originally published by CommSec