Thanks largely to a strong rally from bank shares following the surprise election result, the S&P/ASX 200 index recorded a gain of 1.4% last week.
Four shares that climbed more than most over the period are listed below. Here's why they were the best performers on the index last week:
The CSR Limited (ASX: CSR) share price was the best performer on the ASX 200 last week with a gain of 20%. Investors were fighting to get hold of the building products company's shares after the surprise election result. In addition to this, a note out of the Macquarie equities desk last week revealed that its analysts upgraded its shares to an outperform rating with an increased price target of $4.70. Macquarie believes CSR will benefit from the election win, lower rates, and APRA's plan to reduce the mortgage serviceability threshold.
The Lynas Corporation Ltd (ASX: LYC) share price wasn't far behind with a gain of 18%. The rare earths producer's shares were on fire last week for a couple of reasons. One was the announcement of its Lynas 2025 growth plan and the other was the U.S. and China trade war. Lynas could be a big winner from the trade war as there is speculation that China will block the supply of rare earths to the United States.
The GWA Group Ltd (ASX: GWA) share price was a strong performer last week with a gain of almost 16%. As with CSR, investors appear to be betting on the building products company benefiting greatly from an improving housing market following last weekend's Federal election result.
The NIB Holdings Limited (ASX: NHF) share price rose 14.1% last week. This strong gain was also in response to the Federal election result. NIB and fellow private health insurers had been out of favour with investors after Labor announced that it would limit premium increases to 2% if it won the election. Fellow private health insurer Medibank Private Ltd (ASX: MPL) stormed higher as well last week, recording a gain of 10%.
