ASX 200 drops 1.4% on Thursday 31 December 2020

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX:XJO) fell by 1.4% today to 6,587 points.

The number of COVID-19 cases in NSW continues to rise and now Victoria has a cluster to deal with as well.

Here are some of the highlights from the ASX:

The Cimic share price fell by 1% today despite announcing that it had completed the sale of 50% of Thiess, the world’s largest mining services provider.

The company has previously advised that the price for 50% of the equity interest in Thiess implied an enterprise valuation of approximately $4.3 billion, based on 100% value of Thiess.

This will generate approximately $2.2 billion in cash proceeds for Cimic. The increase in the transaction cash proceeds compared to the previously estimated range is due to…