The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) finished last week slightly higher, despite a serious re-valuation across multiple sectors of the market over the week. Once again, government bond yields were the talk of the town. Rises in both American and Australian long-term bond yields sparked some serious navel-gazing from investors. This resulted in tech shares (and those that the more cynically minded might describe as 'speculative') being sold off heavily. At the same time, the market discovered a renewed affinity for some of the ASX blue chip shares that have been somewhat out of favour in recent months.
To illustrate this paradigm, the Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price, long the playground for investors chasing growth, was decimated this week, falling from a high of more than $133 a share to finish the week at $115.40. In intra-day trading on Friday, Afterpay touched below $109 a share, a 2 month low. We saw similar moves in other shares in Afterpay's stable, such as Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P).
It wasn't just the 'techs and specs' that had a rough trot last week though. Many companies that are exposed to the US dollar continued to sell off as well thanks to our currency holding steady above 77 US cents. CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) fell to under $250 a share for the first time since October 2019 last week. ASX gold miners also had a rough trot, suffering under both the higher Aussie dollar and a falling gold price. Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) was one of the worst-hit miners, falling more than 8% over the week.
Meanwhile, the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) share price made a new 52-week high over the week, and climbed to levels not seen since mid-2018. We also saw strong moves from other blue chips like Woodside Petroleum Ltd (ASX: WPL) and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA).
It was what Wall Street traders would call a classic 'rotation'.
All of this happened despite the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) meeting on Tuesday and reaffirming its commitment to ramp up its bond-buying program.
How did the markets end the week?
It was yet another rollercoaster of a week on the ASX. Monday saw a striking move to the upside, with the ASX 200 rising 1.74%. Tuesday saw investors get cold feet and reversed on those gains by 0.4%. Wednesday saw a jump of 0.82%, while Thursday brought another 0.74% slide. Friday backed that up with an 0.84% loss, but that wasn't enough to dent the ASX's massive Monday. All in all, the ASX 200 started the week at 6,673.3 points and finished up at 6,710.8 points – a 0.56% gain for the week.
Meanwhile, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) started out at 6,940.3 points and finished up at 6,943 for a minuscule gain of 0.03%.
Which ASX 200 shares were the biggest winners and losers?
It's time for our most salacious section of the wrap, so fetch the wine and cheese as we unpack the biggest winners and losers for the week! Here are the losers to start with:
| Worst ASX 200 losers | % loss for the week |
|---|---|
| IDP Education Ltd (ASX: IEL) | (13.6%) |
| Gold Road Resources Ltd (ASX: GOR) | (11.9%) |
| Cimic Group Ltd (ASX: CIM) | (11.2%) |
| IGO Ltd (ASX: IGO) | (9.5%) |
Education provider IDP was the ASX 200's wooden spoon recipient last week, dropping a hefty 13.6%. It appears IDP got caught up in the sell off last week. That's perhaps unsurprising since its price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is still a fairly lofty 163. The company also went ex-dividend last week, so that wouldn't have helped either.
Gold Road Resources is up next. As a gold miner, Gold Road likely got caught up in the sector-wide woes we discussed earlier.
Cimic was not in investors' good books after announcing a contract for one of its projects. And miner IGO was also in the firing line, also possibly due to its own gold exposure. IGO also mines nickel, which is another commodity that has been dropping of late.
Now with the losers out of the way, let's check out last week's winners:
| Best ASX 200 gainers | % gain for the week |
|---|---|
| Australia and New Zeland Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) | 10.2% |
| Computershare Ltd (ASX: CPU) |
9.3% |
| Bluescope Steel Limited (ASX: BSL) | 9.2% |
| Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC) | 8.9% |
It's not often that an ASX big four bank tops the ASX 200, but here we are. As we touched on earlier, ANZ hit a new 52-week high this week. Banks have been primary beneficiaries of the bond yield-induced readjustment inventor shave been pushing over the last week. ANZ appears to have benefitted the most.
Investors appear to have decided Computershare is also worth buying this week, despite no major news out of the company. Perhaps Computershare's status as a rare established tech company with years of positive cash flow in the bank helped.
BlueScope Steel was also a top performer last week. High iron ore prices have been kind to this steel maker. As my colleague James Mickleboro noted as well, BlueScope was also been the beneficiary of some positive broker commentary this week as well. We can apply much of this sentiment to coal miner Whitehaven as well.
A wrap of the ASX 200 blue-chip shares
Before we go, here is a look at the major ASX 200 blue-chip shares as we embark on another week of fun on the share market:
| ASX 200 company | Trailing P/E ratio | Last share price | 52-week high | 52-week low |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) | 33.3 | $248.58 | $332.68 | $242.67 |
| Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) | 19.23 | $86.45 | $89.20 | $53.44 |
| Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) | 39.03 | $24.87 | $25 | $13.47 |
| Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) | 23.82 | $28.84 | $28.86 | $14.10 |
| Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) | 8.38 | $22.10 | $26.40 | $8.20 |
| Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) | 34.77 | $38.95 | $42.05 | $32.12 |
| Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) | 29.87 | $49.53 | $56.40 | $29.75 |
| BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) | 27.44 | $48.23 | $50.93 | $24.05 |
| Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) | 15.34 | $117.68 | $130.30 | $72.77 |
| Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) | 19.71 | $15.50 | $19.26 | $14.01 |
| Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) | 20.8 | $3.10 | $3.59 | $2.66 |
| Transurban Group (ASX: TCL) | – | $12.54 | $15.70 | $9.10 |
| Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD) | – | $5.91 | $7.853 | $4.26 |
| Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) | – | $25.46 | $27.64 | $14.93 |
| Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) | 21.78 | $144.20 | $149 | $70.45 |
| Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) | – | $115.40 | $160.05 | $8.01 |
And finally, here is the lay of the land for some leading market indicators:
- S&P/ASX 200 Index (XJO) at 6,710.8 points.
- All Ordinaries Index (XAO) at 6,943 points.
- Dow Jones Industrial Average Index (DJX: .DJI) at 31,496.3 points after rising 1.85% on Friday night (our time).
- Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) going for US$50,760 per coin.
- Gold (spot) swapping hands for US$1,701 per troy ounce.
- Iron ore asking US$172.56 per tonne.
- Crude oil (Brent) trading at US$69.36 per barrel.
- Australian dollar buying 76.87 US cents.
- 10-year Australian Government bonds yielding 1.83% per annum.
That's all folks. See you next week!
