The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has just enjoyed another week of gains, although one far more muted than investors are used to. The ASX 200 rose a mild 0.5% last week, a move that left the index sitting at 7,522.9 points on Friday afternoon. That's still not quite at the ASX 200's all-time high of 7,632.8 points, but it's certainly still an elevated level by historical standards.
So this latest move comes as the ASX just about wraps up its earnings season. It also comes as we learned on Wednesday that the Australian economy has avoided a quarter of negative growth that would have almost certainly resulted in a technical recession in a few months' time when the current quarter's numbers are released.
So, what were the major ASX shares up to last week?
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ASX 200 miners enjoy another stellar week
Well, the ASX banks had a pretty pleasing week for one. We saw National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) hit a new 52-week high, as did Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG). The other ASX banks enjoyed a week of muted gains, with the exception of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ), which went backwards by 1.6% last week.
But perhaps the biggest stars of the market last week were ASX resources shares. Most miners and drillers had a fantastic week just passed, with big gains being made all round. One of the biggest winners was diversified miner South32 Ltd (ASX: S32), which rocketed by more than 13% last week amid soaring commodity prices. Alumina Limited (ASX: AWC) and Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC) saw even bigger rises, but more on that later.
A notable exception was the ASX 200's largest miner BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP). BHP shares fell by a hefty 5.3% last week, although that can largely be put down to the Big Australian trading ex-dividend for its monster final shareholder payment.
Meanwhile, we also had some late reporters for earnings season. These included InvoCare Ltd (ASX: IVC), releasing its earnings report on Monday which was received well by investors.
However, Altium Limited (ASX: ALU) and Nuix Ltd (ASX: NXL) were not so lucky. Both companies' reports came out on Monday, and were not met with too much enthusiasm, but again, more on that later.
How did the markets end the week?
It was a bit of a mixed bag for the ASX 200 last week. Monday and Tuesday both saw the index start the week off well, with respective rises of 0.22% and 0.4%. But following up was a double loss for Wednesday and Thursday, with the ASX 200 sliding 0.1% and 0.55% on those days respectively. Friday saved the week, with a gain of 0.5%.
Overall, since the ASX 200 started the week at 7,488.3 points and finished up at 7,522.9 points, we had a gain of 0.46% for the week.
Meanwhile, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) managed an even better week. The All Ords started the week at 7,760.1 points but ended up at 7,826.7 points – a rise of 0.86%.
Which ASX 200 shares were the biggest winners and losers?
It's time for our Foolish gossip pages, where we put the 'S' in salacious by checking out the ASX 200's biggest winners and poorest losers of the week. So get the coffee brewing as we, as always, start with the losers:
| Worst ASX 200 losers | % loss for the week |
|---|---|
| Mesoblast Limited (ASX: MSB) | (13.4%) |
| Altium Limited (ASX: ALU) | (7.9%) |
| Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) | (7.1%) |
| Nuix Ltd (ASX: NXL) | (7%) |
Well, our ASX 200 wooden spooner share last week was none other than the biotech company Mesoblast. It was the release of Mesoblast's FY21 earnings results that seemed to be the cause of this sell off. Investors evidently weren't too impressed with the loss after tax of US$99 million the company reported on Tuesday.
ASX tech share Atlium suffered a similar fate, as we touched on earlier. This circuit board design software company dropped its earnings on Monday, reporting sluggish revenue growth of 1% for the year, as well as a 7% drop in profits before tax to US$48 million. Investors seem to have reacted accordingly.
ASX 200 blue chip Wesfarmers was next up with a 7.1% slide. This drop was mostly due to the company trading ex-dividend on Wednesday for its upcoming 7 October final dividend of 90 cents per share – probably the best reason out there to have a sharp drop in value.
Finally, Nuix was also on the wrong end of investor sentiment following its own earnings report, which was released on Monday. Anaemic revenue growth of 0.1% for FY21, and an after-tax loss of $1.64 million seemed to be to blame here.
Now with last week's losers out of the way, let's check out the winners!
| Best ASX 200 gainers | % gain for the week |
|---|---|
| Alumina Limited (ASX: AWC) | 19.1% |
| Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC) | 18.3% |
| Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals Limited (ASX: CUV) | 17.3% |
| South32 Ltd (ASX: S32) | 13.1% |
Well, it was quite a week to be in the ASX commodities space last week. We can largely thank surging commodity prices, especially aluminium, for the rises of Alumina, Whitehaven Coal and South32.
As my Fool colleague James reported, the recent landfall of Hurricane Ida over in the United States last week has dented the country's aluminium production, adding supply constraints to an already surging aluminium price. This has likely fed into both South32 and Alumina's performance last week. The price of thermal coal has also been rising, boosting the prospects of Whitehaven Coal.
Meanwhile, our only non-resources share, Clunivel Pharmaceuticals had a top week as well following a well-received earnings report from the week prior. The company reported a very healthy 43% surge in revenues and a 63.5% leap in net profits after tax to $24.7 million. Investors seem to have kept the celebratory party going this week.
A wrap of the ASX 200 blue-chip shares
Before we go, here is a look at how the ASX 200's blue-chip shares are faring as we settle into spring.
| ASX 200 company | Last share price | Trailing P/E ratio | Trailing Dividend Yield | 52-week high | 52-week low |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) | $303.87 | 42.7 | 1.01% | $320.42 | $242 |
| Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) | $101.84 | 21.64 | 3.44% | $109.03 | $62.64 |
| Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) | $26.02 | 22.27 | 3.42% | $27.12 | $16 |
| Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) | $27.87 | 16.88 | 3.77% | $29.64 | $16.40 |
| National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) | $28.70 | 22.03 | 3.14% | $28.78 | $16.56 |
| Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) | $169.18 | 20.52 | 2.78% | $169.77 | $118.36 |
| Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) | $20.85 | 4.58 | 17.17% | $26.58 | $15.62 |
| BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) | $42.35 | 13.89 | 9.66% | $54.55 | $33.73 |
| Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) | $111.37 | 7.07 | 8.14% | $137.33 | $90.04 |
| Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM) | $24.58 | 12.65 | 3.03% | $33.32 | $23.08 |
| Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) | $19.90 | 38.93 | 2.89% | $27.60 | $16.80 |
| Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) | $3.85 | 24.65 | 4.16% | $4.02 | $2.66 |
| Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) | $40.72 | 33.36 | 2.65% | $44.06 | $35.96 |
| Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) | $57.78 | 27.48 | 3.08% | $67.20 | $43.50 |
| Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) | $17.74 | 23.57 | 3.44% | $18.94 | $15.28 |
| Transurban Group (ASX: TCL) | $14.32 | – | 2.55% | $15.64 | $12.36 |
| Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD) | $7.93 | – | – | $8.04 | $5.37 |
| Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) | $130.71 | – | – | $160.05 | $70.06 |
And finally, here is the lay of the land for some leading market indicators:
- S&P/ASX 200 Index (XJO) at 7,522.9 points.
- All Ordinaries Index (XAO) at 7,826.7 points.
- Dow Jones Industrial Average Index (DJX: .DJI) at 35,369 points after falling 0.21% on Friday night (our time).
- Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) going for US$50,343 per coin.
- Gold (spot) swapping hands for US$1,827 per troy ounce.
- Iron ore asking US$145 per tonne.
- Crude oil (Brent) trading at US$72.61 per barrel.
- Australian dollar buying 74.6 US cents.
- 10-year Australian Government bonds yielding 1.22% per annum.
That's all folks. See you next week!
