Mesoblast boosts into ASX 200 with coronavirus surge

In the latest S&P Dow Jones rebalancing, Centuria Industrial REIT, Megaport and Perseus Mining join the ASX 200.

In the latest S&P Dow Jones rebalancing, Mesoblast, along with Centuria Industrial REIT, Megaport, Omni Bridgeway and Perseus Mining, have joined the ASX200. Picture: AAP

Mesoblast’s coronavirus treatment trials spurred a more than four-fold surge in the stock over the past few months pushing the biotech company into the benchmark top 200 stocks on the ASX.

In the latest S&P Dow Jones rebalancing, Mesoblast, along with Centuria Industrial REIT, Megaport, Omni Bridgeway and Perseus Mining joined the S&P/ASX 200.

Estia Health, HUB24, Jumbo Interactive, Mayne Pharma, Pilbara Minerals and Pinnacle Investments dropped from the index.

In the market’s top 20 stocks, Amcor was replaced by Aristocrat and A2 joined the top 50 in the place of AMP.

Global gaming company Aristocrat Leisure saw its market capitalisation increase, with a surge in digital revenue of 19 per cent driven by the coronavirus lockdown.

Online betting platform Pointsbet also saw gains from the lockdown to move it into the ASX 300.

Pointsbet has become a market darling during the virus pandemic, with its share price more than trebling since March as punters were forced to stay home and just about the only thing they could bet on was Australian horse racing.

Of those companies that have shifted off the main frame, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield suffered on the back of the widespread shutdown of its shopping centres and airport assets, losing its spot in the ASX 100 as its market cap more than halved.

Seven West Media dropped out of the ASX 300 as ad revenue fell at the media group.

Bucking the down trend

Clothing retailers Kathmandu and City Chic Collective bucked a general malaise in the retail industry, joining the ASX 300 on the back of online sales increasing by 200 and 57 per cent respectively.

Tourism transport operator Sealink Travel Group moved into the ASX 300 with investors backing the renewal of the domestic tourism industry and Sealink’s Captain Cook Cruises taking to the water again in July.

The A2 Milk Company joined the ASX 50 and coal miner Whitehaven dropped out of the ASX 100.

The March quarter rebalance of the ASX indices was abandoned because of market instability caused by the coronavirus crisis.

The S&P/ASX 200 rallied to a high of 7162 points on February 20 before the virus news hit and is down around 18 per cent from that peak.