The ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) was eventful again this week. Here are four big stories you may have missed that affected the ASX 200 index:
Construction sector rebuilds
Sentiment about the ASX construction sector has completely turned around over the past week after the Liberal election win.
Some of the winners include the Boral Limited (ASX: BLD) share price rising by 11.5% over the week. The CSR Limited (ASX: CSR) share price went up by 20%.
Other property-related businesses also had a solid week. The Beacon Lighting Group Ltd (ASX: BLX) share price went up by 14.2% and the JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH) share price rose by 8.7%.
APRA and RBA to boost the housing market?
The RBA is believed to be very likely to decrease interest rates next month. In-fact Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) thinks there could be three rate cuts by the end of the year.
The Westpac share price finished the week up 10.6% and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price went up 7.3%. Big bank shareholders had a great week.
Another impressive result from Aristocrat Leisure Limited (ASX: ALL)
Gaming machine business Aristocrat Leisure released its result for the half year to 31 March 2019 showing that reported revenue grew by 35% to $2.1 billion and reported net profit after tax (NPAT) went up 34.9% to $346 million.
The Aristocrat share price rose by 7.7% over the week and the company is expecting further profit growth in the year ahead.
Private health rebounds
The outlook for private health businesses also seems better now that they won't be limited by Labor to low premium increases.
As you can imagine, the private health insurers reacted strongly. The Medibank Private Ltd (ASX: MPL) share price went up 12% over the week and the NIB Holdings Limited (ASX: NHF) share price increased by 14%.
Another business to benefit was the Ramsay Health Care Limited (ASX: RHC) share price which increased by 8.3%.
