The S&P ASX All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) hit a new yearly high of 5453 on Monday, a level not seen since June 2008, so although there is still talk of a weak economy and that the business environment may not demonstrably improve for even a few more years, the stock market is always a forward-looking beast.
It also follows the lead of the world's major markets so when the US is gaining strongly, and Europe is no longer making new bottoms — and has even turned up in some areas — that flows onto our shores also. And Asia will basically need more of everything as its countries grow and modernise.
So with the index high, which ASX 200 companies are the top gainers over the last five days?
ANZ (ASX: ANZ) declared a $6.06 billion net profit after tax (NPAT) this month, up only 0.6% from last year, but with the final dividend to be $0.91, total dividends for the year come to $1.64, up 13.1% from $1.45 in 2012. Expansion plans into Asia are moving forward with initial prospects looking better. Its share price rose 5% to $33.70.
IRESS (ASX: IRE) was also up 5%, setting a new all-time high of $9.95. Apart from benefitting from strong share market activity, it has recently taken over UK financial services provider Avelo, which will be branded as IRESS in its domestic market. IRESS operates 14 offices worldwide.
Nudging out the previous two, TPG Telecom (ASX: TPM) turned up 6%, making a new all-time of $4.78 before ending at $4.70. This telecom and internet service provider controls about 6.5% of the ISP market after Singapore Telecommunications (ASX: SGT), iiNET (ASX: IIN) and Telstra (ASX: TLS). There has been talk that it could possibly buy AAPT if the rival ISP business is put on the market.
Senex Energy (ASX: SXY) announced that its Burruna-2 oil well, jointly developed with Orca Energy (ASX: OGY), came into production, yielding 3,600 barrels during testing, and will be restricted to 800 barrels per day during testing and optimisation. It increased by 6% in share price to $0.80.
The biggest gainer over the past five days is Fairfax Media (ASX: FX), rising 10% to $0.60. It has announced cost saving measures that include reducing 45 staff in its publishing units, and will discontinue two glossy page magazines. Since April 2010, the share price has dropped to a third of its $1.80 price back then.
Foolish takeaway
Five days in the share market can seem to be an eternity for some, but the gains and losses can easily be reversed, so by looking at such a short time period, it isn't prudent to chase these gains immediately. However, they can be the impetus for finding out why they are moving just now, and what the driving force to take them even higher is.
