Healthscope Limited

The Australian market dropped sharply at opening on Monday following a plunge in Wall Street Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 2.52 per cent Friday after disappointing earnings reports from Bank of America, Citigroup and General Electric. Sharp falls in consumer confidence data also fueled concerns on US economy recovery.

The Australian shares opened slightly lower this morning with weak overseas lead. Fitch Ratings has downgraded Spain's credit rating from AAA to AA-plus, saying the country's economic recovery will be more muted than the government forecast. The local market is under pressure after the downgrade fuelled concerns over the Eurozone crisis.

The Australian shares gave up 1 per cent shortly after the market opened on Friday led by banks and big miners. The weak commodities prices and decline in Wall Street dented the local market. Today Asian markets also broadly fell after the poor lead from the US.

Australian shares dropped on Monday as investors were nervous ahead of the EU meeting over Greek debt. Trading was quiet in local market while most Asian bourses were closed for Lunar New Year on Monday, Wall Street also closed because of a public holiday. At the close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index fell 16.6 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 4545.5, while the broader All Ordinaries index shed 18.4 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 4570.4.

Yesterday the Australian stocks closed lower on all sectors. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 lost 51.1 points, or 1.48 per cent, at 3,413.2, while the broader All Ordinaries dropped 45.3 points, or 1.33 per cent, to 3,366.9. The local market has fell 4.1% so far this week, and the shares may see a further drop after base metal and oil prices lower.

Polartechnics Limited (ASX:PLT)(PINK:PLTFF) today announced it had reached a strategic agreement with its preferred business partners, Genera Biosystems and Healthscope, for the commercialisation of CerviScreen, which is a new device to identify sexually transmitted Human Papillomavirus (HPV) using self-sampled specimens.

Iba Health Limited (ASX: IBA) - $14m Agreement with Healthscope - Mr Gary Cohen, Executive Chairman; Iba Health Limited (ASX: IBA) present the following audio webcast regarding "$14m Agreement with Healthscope". You may also download this audio webcast to your computer or portable audio player.

IBA Health Group Limited (ASX: IBA) - Australia's largest listed specialist information technology company, today announced an agreement with one of Australia's leading private hospital providers, Healthscope Limited.