Against all of the odds it seems, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) shook off the prior week's malaise and recorded a week in the green last week. That's despite the ongoing COVID-19 crises across the country deepening last week, with Sydney now in lockdown until at least 30 July, and Melbourne entering its own 5-day snap shutdown.
On paper, it looks as though last week was a rip roarer for ASX 200 shares. The ASX 200 Index put on a very healthy 1.03% to finish back above 7,300 points at 7,348.1 by Friday afternoon.
The ASX banks had a rather lousy week, with Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) losing 0.4% over the week, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) down 0.46%, Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) shares shedding a nasty 1.8%, and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) dropping 1.5%.
But out of the ASX 200 blue-chip shares, it seemed only to be the ASX banks that were in the red last week. Other blue chips like Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS), CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) and Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) all managed decent gains. But they paled in comparison to what the ASX resources sector put up last week.
ASX 200 resources shares strike gold
It was a week to remember for mining shares. BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) was perhaps the most noteworthy performer. The Big Australian managed a very impressive 4.8% gain for the week, and managed to hit another new all-time high on Friday. This one at $51.91 per share. Hot on its heels was Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO), which put on 4.1%. But both were pipped by Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG), which rose by an astonishing 8% last week.
But it wasn't just the big iron ore miners either. Gold miner Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM) was up 4.6% last week, while lithium miner Orocobre Limited (ASX: ORE) rose 7.3% and hit new all-time high of its own.
Long story short, ASX investors largely have mining shares to thank for last week's ASX 200 gains.
How did the markets end the week?
As you may have gathered, it was a pretty top week for the ASX 200.
Monday kicked things off with a healthy gain of 0.83%. Tuesday then saw a pretty flat day, with the ASX 200 losing 0.02%. This was reversed on Wednesday when the index pushed 0.32% higher. Thursday once again saw investors push back slightly, with a loss of 0.26%.
But Friday's gain of 0.17% sealed the deal for the week. Since the ASX 200 started the week out at 7,273.3 points and finished up at 7,348.1, we can clock last week's gain at 1.03%.
Meanwhile, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) fared even better. The All Ords started out at 7,545.3 points and finished up at 7,630.7 points – marking its gains at 1.13% for the week just gone.
Which ASX 200 shares were the biggest winners and losers?
Time now for our most salacious of segments, our Foolish gossip pages where we look at the ASX 200's best winners and poorest losers of the week. So fetch the wine and cheese as we, as always, start with the losers:
| Worst ASX 200 losers | % loss for the week |
|---|---|
| Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) | (14.5%) |
| Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) | (12.2%) |
| Polynovo Ltd (ASX: PNV) | (11.6%) |
| Mesoblast Limited (ASX: MSB) | (5.7%) |
Well, Zip Co was our ASX 200 wooden spooner from last week, with a nasty near-15% drop. This buy now, pay later (BNPL) company was hit hard by the rumours that a certain company that no one wants as a competitor, Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL), may be whipping up a BNPL product of its own. News that PayPal Holdigns Inc (NASDAQ: PYPL) is removing late fees from its own BNPL product probably didn't help either.
It wasn't just Zip feeling Apple/PayPal burn either. Fellow BNPL provider Afterpay was also feeling the heat last week, and shed more than 12% as well.
Moving on from BNPL and we had healthcare company Polynovo. Investors can probably look to the Tuesday sales update as the catalyst here. Although this update was initially well received, it didn't impress brokers, which my Fool colleague James covered here. In fact, between Tuesday's opening share price and Friday's closing one, Polynovo lost more than 17% of its value.
Last and least, in terms of losses anyway, was Polynovo's fellow healthcare company, Mesoblast. It was a set of clinical trial results that seemed to have gotten investors jittery here. This company is now down a rather unenviable 17.5% year to date so far.
Now with the losers out of the way, let's check out last week's ASX 200 winners:
| Best ASX 200 gainers | % gain for the week |
|---|---|
| Spark Infrastructure Group (ASX: SKI) | 17.4% |
| NRW Holdings Limited (ASX: NWH) | 13.9% |
| Perenti Global Ltd (ASX: PRN) | 13.2% |
| ARB Corporation Limited (ASX: ARB) | 10.4% |
Taking out the ASX 200 gong last week was renewable energy company Spark Infrastructure.
Spark shares were too hot to handle last week, rising by a very pleasing 17.4%. It seems a takeover offer, which Spark rejected, was the primary cause here. The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts together put up an offer of $2.70 in cash per share. But Spark felt this offer undervalued the company. Investors didn't seem to mind.
Next up we had mining company NRW Holdings. NRW's gains seemed to have come from news that another company in Boggabri Coal Operations has exercised an option to acquire a majority of NRW's subsidiary Golding Contractors' major mining equipment. Investors seemed to approve, judging by the near-14% jump the shares experienced.
Engineering company Perenti also had a great time, rising a touch over 13% last week. This was despite the absence of any major news or announcement from the company.
And finally, we had outdoor recreation company ARB, which also rose a healthy 10.4%. This gain can be attributed to ARB's market update the company released last week. This update contained ARB's FY21 earnings numbers, which seemed to be better than what investors were expecting.
A wrap of the ASX 200 blue-chip shares
Before we, er, wrap… things up, here is a look at how the major ASX 200 blue-chip shares are faring as we start on yet another week:
| ASX 200 company | Last share price | Trailing P/E ratio | Trailing Dividend Yield | 52-week high | 52-week low |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) | $277.72 | 35.44 | 1.01% | $320.42 | $242 |
| Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) | $98.19 | 21.84 | 2.53% | $106.57 | $62.64 |
| Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) | $24.91 | 21.32 | 3.57% | $27.12 | $16 |
| Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) | $27.43 | 16.62 | 3.83% | $29.64 | $16.40 |
| National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) | $25.96 | 19.92 | 3.47% | $27.84 | $16.56 |
| Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) | $155.49 | 18.86 | 3.02% | $162.06 | $118.36 |
| Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) | $25.78 | 9.31 | 9.58% | $26.40 | $15.62 |
| BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) | $51.87 | 28.11 | 3.98% | $51.91 | $33.73 |
| Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) | $130.60 | 16.21 | 4.7% | $132.94 | $90.04 |
| Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM) | $26.90 | 16.72 | 1.62% | $38.15 | $23.08 |
| Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) | $22.76 | – | 2.26% | $27.60 | $16.80 |
| Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) | $3.77 | 25.3 | 4.24% | $3.79 | $2.66 |
| Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) | $38.24 | 34.13 | 2.64% | $44.06 | $35.96 |
| Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) | $59.12 | 35.65 | 2.79% | $59.63 | $43.50 |
| Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) | $17.05 | 21.68 | 3.55% | $19.26 | $15.28 |
| Transurban Group (ASX: TCL) | $14.49 | – | 2.52% | $15.64 | $12.36 |
| Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD) | $7.91 | – | – | $8.04 | $4.99 |
| Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) | $103.21 | – | – | $160.05 | $65.53 |
And finally, here is the lay of the land for some leading market indicators:
- S&P/ASX 200 Index (XJO) at 7,378.1 points.
- All Ordinaries Index (XAO) at 7,630.7 points.
- Dow Jones Industrial Average Index (DJX: .DJI) at 34,688 points after falling 0.86% on Friday night (our time).
- Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) going for US$31,771 per coin.
- Gold (spot) swapping hands for US$1,812 per troy ounce.
- Iron ore asking US$219.67 per tonne.
- Crude oil (Brent) trading at US$73.59 per barrel.
- Australian dollar buying 73.99 US cents.
- 10-year Australian Government bonds yielding 1.28% per annum.
That's all folks. See you next week!
