Sentiment was positive on the Australian Securities Exchange last week, pushing the overall value of the top 200 businesses up 1.04% to 6,794 points.
IT stocks had the biggest gains – for the second week in a row – up 5.9%. This was led by buy-now, pay-later company Afterpay (APT). Health stocks were up overall by 4.34%, with biotech giant CSL among those leading the charge (up 5.1%). Consumer staples were also popular increasing by 3.63%, with supermarket giant Woolworths (WOW), up 3.4%.
The financial sector and materials were out of favour, however, and fell 0.87% and 0.11%, respectively.
Annual general meetings continue to shed more light on company books. Wesfarmers reported earnings growth in Bunnings and Officeworks and its share price ended the week up by 2.9%.
Many companies also paid out dividends to shareholders last week, including the big banks National Australia Bank (NAB), ANZ Banking Group (ANZ), Macquarie Group (MCG) and Westpac Banking Corporation (WBC).
Mining company BHP announced Mike Henry would take over as Chief Executive Officer from January 1, 2020 following the retirement of Andrew Mackenzie.
In the week ahead, Australia’s Reserve Bank and the US Federal Reserve will both release minutes from their recent board meetings, giving an indication of their views of the trading conditions to come.
S&P and All Ords Movements (08/11/2019 to 15/11/2019) |
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| Closing Points | % Change | |
| S&P/ASX 200 (XJO) | 6,794 | 1.04% |
| All Ordinaries (XAO) | 6,899 | 0.96% |
| Prepared by Canstar. Points taken as of Monday open to Friday close. | ||
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Sector Movements (08/11/2019 to 15/11/2019) |
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| Closing Points | % Change | |
| Consumer Discretionary (XDJ) | 2,656 | 1.67% |
| Consumer Staples (XSJ) | 12,838 | 3.63% |
| Energy (XEJ) | 11,296 | 0.38% |
| Financials (XFJ) | 6,220 | -0.87% |
| Health Care (XHJ) | 40,760 | 4.34% |
| Industrials (XNJ) | 7,079 | 1.81% |
| Information Technology (XIJ) | 1,446 | 5.90% |
| Materials (XMJ) | 13,420 | -0.11% |
| Telecommunication Service (XTJ) | 1,264 | 1.75% |
| Utilities (XUJ) | 8,166 | 0.81% |
| Prepared by Canstar. Points taken as of Monday open to Friday close. | ||
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ASX 200 – Top 5 Market Capitalisation Losses (08/11/2019 to 15/11/2019) |
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| Rank | Company | $ Change in Market Cap | Closing Share Price | % Change in Share Price |
| 1 | National Aust. Bank (NAB) | -$2,392,905,468 | $27.64 | -2.9% |
| 2 | ANZ Banking Group Ltd (ANZ) | -$2,381,051,336 | $25.41 | -3.2% |
| 3 | Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) | -$1,601,061,757 | $9.06 | -5.4% |
| 4 | Westpac Banking Corp (WBC) | -$653,568,232 | $26.63 | -2.9% |
| 5 | Rio Tinto Ltd (RIO) | -$627,355,401 | $93.54 | -1.8% |
| Prepared by Canstar. Prices taken as of week to week close. | ||||
Afterpay continues its rise, Bingo and Graincorp grow on results
Fintech company Afterpay Touch (APT) recorded the biggest gain of the week, finishing up by 22% to $32.91 a share. Investors wanted in after a broker upgrade and positive announcements at its AGM on Wednesday. It says it will be available on shopping platform eBay next year, and now has more than 2.6 million customers in the US and 400 million in the US.
Shares in waste management company Bingo Industries Ltd (BIN) jumped 18.1% in the week, after it was announced at its AGM that it could increase profits by about 50%.
Agricultural business Graincorp (GNC) also held its AGM, but reported a drought-affected underlying loss of $82m, in line with earlier guidance. But investors bought into the company as the competition watchdog, the ACCC, announced it would not stand in the way of the purchase of its GrainCorp Bulk Liquid Terminals. It was up 14.6% in the week.
Tech companies Nearmap Ltd (NEA) and Appen Ltd (APX) also rose by double-digits (17.1% and 12.6%) after positive broker recommendations.
ASX 200 – Top 5 Share Price Gains (08/11/2019 to 15/11/2019) |
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| Rank | Company | Closing Share Price | % Change |
| 1 | Afterpay Touch (APT) | $32.91 | 22.0% |
| 2 | Bingo Industries Ltd (BIN) | $2.94 | 18.1% |
| 3 | Nearmap Ltd (NEA) | $2.88 | 17.1% |
| 4 | Graincorp Ltd Class A (GNC) | $8.62 | 14.6% |
| 5 | Appen Ltd (APX) | $23.31 | 12.6% |
| Prepared by Canstar. Prices taken as of week to week close. | |||
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ASX 200 – Top 5 Share Price Losses (08/11/2019 to 15/11/2019)
| Rank | Company | Closing Share Price | % Change |
| 1 | G8 Education Ltd (GEM) | $1.99 | -22.9% |
| 2 | Pilbara Min Ltd (PLS) | $0.31 | -9.0% |
| 3 | Nine Entertainment (NEC) | $1.69 | -7.9% |
| 4 | Whitehaven Coal (WHC) | $3.15 | -7.9% |
| 5 | Sandfire Resources (SFR) | $5.80 | -7.8% |
| Prepared by Canstar. Prices taken as of week to week close. | |||
G8 reveals gloomy forecast
High-profile education and training provider G8 Education’s (GEM) stock price fell 22.9% last week. It announced its expected earnings would be $10m lower than previously thought, citing high wages and slower-than-expected growth as contributing factors.
Media company Nine Entertainment Group (NEC) revealed a soft advertising market across its television and radio networks, but improvements across digital. Its shares fell 7.9%.
The price of Coal miner Whitehaven (WHC) dropped 7.9% as investor Farallon Capital Management sold off the majority of its shares.
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