A strong second half to the week thanks to dovish central banks led to the S&P/ASX 200 index bouncing back from a slow start to record a weekly gain of 0.7%.
Whilst this was a strong gain, it paled in comparison to some of the gains that were made on the index. The best performers last week were as follows:
The Eclipx Group Ltd (ASX: ECX) share price was the best performer on the ASX 200 index last week with a gain of 17%. This latest gain means the fleet management company's shares have now charged 28.5% higher in the space of a month. The catalyst for this was a better than feared half year result and the company's decision to focus on its core business and seek to grow organically rather than through acquisitions. In addition to this, last week its shares were given a boost when UBS retained its buy rating and lifted the price target on them to $1.50. It believes the risk of Eclipx breaching its debt covenants has reduced meaningfully following its results release.
The WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC) share price was the next best performer on the ASX 200 over the period with a gain of 10.5%. A rebound in tech stocks and the release of a presentation ahead of an appearance at an investor conference were the catalysts to the strong gain. At the conference management confirmed that it continues to expect FY 2019 revenue in the range of $326 million to $339 million and EBITDA in the range of $100 million to $105 million. This will be year on year revenue growth of 47% to 53% and EBITDA growth of 28% to 35%.
The Abacus Property Group (ASX: ABP) share price wasn't far behind with a gain of 9.9% last week. This stretched the property group's year to date gain to a sizeable 29%. The catalyst for the latest gain was news that it has teamed up with Charter Hall Group (ASX: CHC) to purchase a 19.9% strategic interest in Australian Unity Office Fund (ASX: AOF) for a total consideration of $95.6 million.
The Goodman Group (ASX: GMG) share price was a strong performer last week with a gain of 6.6% despite there being no news out of the integrated property group. I suspect that last week's gain was down to income investors looking for alternatives to bonds and term deposits after the Reserve Bank of Australia cut the cash rate.
