The S&P/ASX 200 index was in fine form last week. The signing of the US-China phase one trade deal sent the index smashing through the 7,000 points mark for the first time in its history.
Over the period the benchmark index climbed a sizeable 2% or 135.1 points to end it at 7064.1 points.
Whilst the majority of shares raced higher, some climbed more than most. Here's why these were the best performing ASX 200 shares last week:
The Polynovo Ltd (ASX: PNV) share price was the best performer on the ASX 200 last week with a 21.9% gain. This appears to have been a delayed reaction to the medical device company's sales update earlier this month. That sales update revealed a sharp jump in sales in December. In fact, PolyNovo achieved its first $2 million month. This comes less than a year after it achieved its first ever $1 million month. Management believes this "gives some feel for the acceleration of sales in the US, Australia and New Zealand."
The Elders Ltd (ASX: ELD) share price was on form last week and recorded a 13.4% gain. This strong gain appears to have been trigged by a broker note out of Bell Potter. According to the note, the broker believes now could be a good time to invest in the agribusiness company. It has a buy rating and $8.15 price target on the company's shares. The broker expects a material increase in cattle prices when the rain returns and re-stockers compete with processors for limited supply.
The Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) share price wasn't far behind with a gain of 12.4%. This also appears to been driven by a broker note out of Bell Potter last week. It has a buy rating and $28.75 price target on the machine learning and artificial intelligence company's shares. According to the note, Appen is the broker's top pick in the tech sector. It believes the company will deliver a strong FY 2019 result and reveal positive guidance of at least 30% EBITDA growth for FY 2020.
The Pro Medicus Limited (ASX: PME) share price was a strong performer last week with a 12% gain. Although there was no news out of the imaging software company last week, its shares have been strong performers since an announcement at the end of December. That announcement revealed that it has signed a deal with Palo Alto-based Nines. The agreement will see the creation of an offering, based on Visage 7 technology, hosted on the Google Cloud Platform. This will provide Nines with a highly scalable and optimised platform.
