The Australian share market has been on a stunning run over the last few weeks, leading to the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) posting a monthly gain of 7.5%.
While this gain is impressive, some shares on the benchmark index have managed to put on even stronger gains over the period.
Three of the best performers over the last 30 days with gains of over 30% are listed below. Here's why they have been on fire:
The Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) share price has zoomed 31.5% higher since this time last month. After being sold off during October and November, investors appear to have returned in their droves to pick up shares at an attractive price over the last 30 days. While the language technology data and services provider is certainly not the bargain buy it was a month ago, at 33x estimated FY 2019 earnings I still see value in its shares for buy and hold investors.
The Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) share price has raced 33.5% higher over the last 30 days. Beach and its energy sector peers have been on fire over the period due to a recovery in oil prices. This strong run looks set to extend on Monday after the oil price rebound continued on Friday. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price rose 3.3% to a two-month high of US$53.80 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price pushed 2.5% higher to US$62.70 a barrel.
The Syrah Resources Ltd (ASX: SYR) share price has rocketed 40% since this time last month. A series of positive announcements out of the graphite miner during the period have led to investors fighting to get hold of shares. These announcements include a binding sales agreement with Qingdao Langruite Graphite in December and last week's announcement revealing that commercial production has finally been declared at its Balama graphite project. Things are certainly looking a lot more positive for Syrah, but I would suggest investors wait for its half year results before considering an investment.
