ASX hits another record high, Pro Medicus soars

The news: The Australian sharemarket has rallied 0.45% to reach a record high of 8,444.3. The healthcare sector was the best performer, up 1.61%.

The benchmark ASX 200 also reached an intraday high of 8,477.1, with six out of 11 sectors finishing in green.

Biggest ASX 200 movers:

• Pro Medicus (8.66%) — Announced it had signed a 10-year $330 million deal with Trinity Health in the US.
• IAG (3.55%) — Will buy 90% of RACQ's existing insurance underwriting business for $855 million, as part of a long term strategic alliance.
• Star Entertainment Group (-7.14%) — Flagged that its revenue has continued to decline significantly and that it is experiencing negative cashflow. It also received a first strike on its pay report.
• Harvey Norman (-2.25%) — UBS downgraded its rating on the white goods retailer from 'buy' to 'neutral' due to a subdued revenue outlook.

Other news:

• AVJennings (87.88%) — Its board is backing a takeover offer from US investment manager Proprium Capital Partners and Australian developer AVID. The offer of 67 cents per share represents a 103% premium to its last closing price.
• DroneShield (2.07%) — Announced a flurry of senior executive and advisory appointments.
• Dexus (0.68%) — Has agreed to sell two office properties for a combined price of $443.2 million.
• Aurizon (0.3%) — The competition regulator said it would not oppose the company's proposed acquisition of Flinders Logistics after the deal was restructured.
• Fisher & Paykel (-2.08%) — Reported a 43% boost to first-half profit, as operating revenue topped the company's upgraded guidance for the period.
• Webjet Group (-7.69%) — The competition regulator is suing the company in the Federal Court for alleged misleading and deceptive conduct by its subsidiary Webjet Marketing.
• Maas Group (halted) — Has agreed to acquire three construction material companies worth a combined $252 million, and has launched a capital raising to partially fund the deals.