Last Orders: ASX closes slightly in the green led by tech

The ASX finished in positive territory, although short of an all-time high.

The ASX 200 closed 0.15 per cent higher at 7,293 having traded as high as 7,316 in intraday trade. Meanwhile, the ASX Emerging Companies Index retreated 0.40 per cent to close at 2,160.

Like yesterday, the best sector was tech which gained 1.45 per cent. Following behind was healthcare and property trusts which rose 0.81 per cent while the worst performing sector was resources which fell 0.39 per cent.

The top stock with news was UK-based oil and gas explorer Doriemus (ASX:DOR) which rose 107 per cent after unveiling a $3 million capital raising.

Although Wall St finished slightly in the red, the market was boosted by NAB business conditions hitting a record high in May and the vaccine roll out continuing to progress with WA becoming the first state to offer the jab to people between 30 and 39 – in addition to everyone above that age bracket.

ANNOUNCEMENTS YOU MAY’VE MISSED

Microinvesting platform Raiz (ASX:RZI) told shareholders it passed $750 million in Funds Under Management of which $102.1 million was superannuation. The company also reached over 1.7 million customer sign ups and says it is on track to reach the $1 billion milestone this calendar year.

Magnetite Mines (ASX:MGT) executive chairman Peter Schubert has exercised a parcel of options in the company. The transaction saw him acquire nearly 5.3 million shares for a consideration of $264,889. The options exercise was part of the recent 31st May option conversion which resulted in more than 85% of the outstanding options on issue being converted, raising $7.52m.

Speaking of director trades, Zoono (ASX:ZNO) founder Paul Hyslop has sold another parcel of shares to institutional fund managers but still owns 37 per cent of his company. He sold $1.4 million to Sterling Investment Management and $3.5 million to Regal Funds Management – the latter which bought $23 million from him last year.

Delta Drone (ASX:DLT) was reappointed as data services provider in South Africa for South 32 (ASX:S32). The renewed agreement is worth $2.7 million and will begin this month for a 5 year term.

SME lending platform Propell (ASX:PHL) gave a trading update for the past month. It reported customers grew 6.4 per cent to 651 and growth in total loans in April and May grew 85 per cent – almost surpassing the total from the previous quarter.

Childcare centre operator Evolve Education (ASX:EVO) also gave its shareholders a trading update in which it noted differing conditions in Australia and New Zealand with the former “very strong” but the latter still below pre-COVID levels. It tips underlying earnings for the calendar year between NZ$16 million and NZ$18.5 million.