Last Orders: Zip jumped 15pc as ASX 200 fought hard to keep lunchtime gains

The ASX 200 fought hard to remain above water in the final session, after lifting by 0.30% at the halfway point.

The index finally closed the day 0.23% higher.

Seven of 11 sectors fell, with Energy and Utilities the two top under performers. Tech and Consumer Staples were the top performing sectors, rising by over 1% each.

Zip (ASX:Z1P) rose by 15% following reports in the AFR that Swedish fintech Klarna, which is part of Commonwealth Bank (ASX:CBA), had taken a 4% stake in the company.

Zip’s rival Afterpay (ASX:APT) also rose by 3%.

Meanwhile, Sydney Airport (ASX:SYD) rose by 3% following a report by Bloomberg that said a Macquarie Group-led consortium is also considering a takeover play for the airport.

In small caps, Nex Metals (ASX:NME) more than doubled today after reporting bonanza gold intersections up to 91.2g/t at its McTavish JV gold project with Metalicity Ltd (ASX:MCT) – who were also up 18%.

ANNOUNCEMENTS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

Work has commenced today at Great Western Exploration (ASX:GTE)‘s 100% owned Lakeway Potash Project. The project includes a continuation of the main channel developed by ~$280m market cap Salt Lake Potash (ASX:SO4), which is on track to become a premium sulphate of potash producer in the September 2021 quarter. GTE rose by 3% today.

TechGen Metals (ASX:TG1) rose by 11% after announcing that its Versatile Time Domain Electro Magnetic (VTEM Max) survey results validated prospectivity at its flagship copper projects.

Tech company Cirralto (ASX:CRO) also advanced by 11% after signing a five-year referral agreement that allows Fresh Supply to introduce joint customers to Cirralto through sales referrals and business opportunities.

Inca Minerals (ASX:ICG) rose by 9% after announcing that ongoing review at Frewena has identified highly prospective IOCG-SEDEX ‘mega-target’ at Mount Lamb.

Payright (ASX:PYR) climbed 11% after entering into a partnership with Mint Payments to integrate Payright’s BNPL solution into its online payments processing system. Under the terms, Mint Payment’s 7,000+ merchants will have access to Payright’s BNPL solution for eCommerce and in-store transactions.