Well, it's been a bit of a boring week this week on the ASX (at least compared with the last few weeks). No decade-defining moves in the oil markets nor incendiary tweets from the Commander-in-Chief has led the S&P/ASX200 (ASX: XJO) to close the week slightly lower at 6,716 points – a 0.21% fall (yawn).
Here are 3 ASX shares that did catch my eye
Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX: APT)
This one's never far from the headlines… Afterpay makes the list after the hot payments stock made a fresh new all-time high of $36.65 this week. Afterpay shares were bolstered by news that an initial submission from the company to government watchdog AUSTRAC shows no signs of money laundering from Afterpay's services, which had been worrying some in the government. Afterpay shares are now up 204.75% for the year so far.
FlexiGroup Limited (ASX: FXL)
It seems this week is all about payment shares. The Flexigroup share price is up an extraordinary 24.75% this week after the company reported to the ASX on Thursday that it has now managed to sign up over 18,000 retail partners to its humm payments platform and that transactions have surged 25% year-on-year. It seems FlexiGroup is proving a real challenger against Afterpay's dominance of the buy-now, pay-later space on these numbers.
Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM)
Throwing in the obligatory loser is why Newcrest makes the list this week. ASX gold miners have been one of the standout ASX market performers in 2019, but some of the golden magic rubbed off this week, with Newcrest shares down 4.15% since Monday's open to finish the week at $35.08. The gold price has settled a little, but it appears the Newcrest sell-off has been driven by worries the stock might be a little too pricey after banking a YTD gain of over 60%.
Foolish Takeaway
It seems that payments companies are continuing to be the crown jewels of the ASX crown after looking at this week in the rear-view mirror. Who knows what next week will hold?
