The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was out of form last week and dropped notably lower. The benchmark index fell a disappointing 2.3% to 5,919.2 points.
Not all shares dropped lower with the market last week. Here's why these ASX 200 shares were flying high:
The Netwealth Group Ltd (ASX: NWL) share price was the best performer on the ASX with a 18.4% gain. Investors were buying the investment platform provider's shares last week following the release of its fourth quarter update. At the end of the quarter, Netwealth's funds under administration (FUA) had climbed to a sizeable $31.5 billion. This means the company grew its FUA by $8.2 billion or 35% during FY 2020. This includes a negative market movement of $0.9 billion for the 12 months.
The Perseus Mining Limited (ASX: PRU) share price was an impressive performer last week with a 12.3% gain. The catalyst for this strong gain was another rise in the gold price. Traders were fighting to get hold of the precious metal after coronavirus cases spiked globally. Demand was so strong the gold price broke through the US$1,800 an ounce mark and hit a nine-year high. For the same reason, St Barbara Ltd (ASX: SBM) and Gold Road Resources Ltd (ASX: GOR) shares stormed 10.3% and 9.3% higher, respectively.
The Mesoblast limited (ASX: MSB) share price was on form and jumped 8.9% last week. Investors were buying the allogeneic cellular medicines developer's shares after it provided an update on its allogeneic mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) product candidate, remestemcel-L. That update revealed that the product has been given an expanded access protocol for compassionate use in the treatment of COVID-19 infected children with cardiovascular and other complications of multisystem inflammatory syndrome.
The Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1) share price wasn't far behind with a gain of 8.4%. This was despite there being no news out of the global leading provider of elastic interconnection services. However, with the pandemic accelerating the shift to the cloud, investors appear confident that Megaport will be experiencing very strong demand for its services.
