The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has taken off with a vengeance today. The ASX 200 is presently up a healthy 1.01% to just under 7,360 points. It was even better this morning, with the index rocketing to a new seven-month high of 7,375 points earlier in the session.
It seems that these strong gains have at least partly been spurred by what happened on the US markets overnight.
Last night (our time) saw the US markets go on a tear. The S&P 500 Index (SP: .INX) rose by a whopping 3.09%, while the NASDAQ-100 (NASDAQ: NDX) rose by an even more impressive 4.58%.
These moves came after some bullish comments from US Federal Reserve chair Jerome 'Jay' Powell.
As my Fool colleague dug into earlier today, Powell flagged a moderation of US interest rate rises going forward. Powell stated that, "the time for moderating the pace of rate increases may come as soon as the December meeting".
So it seems we could have just one man to thank for the massive gains we are seeing on the ASX today.
There are many shares doing even better than the ASX 200 today though, with several even clocking new 52-week highs. So let's dig into seven that have just hit new benchmarks for the year.
Thanks Jay: 7 ASX shares hitting new 52-week highs today
The A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M) is one. A2 Milk shares are currently up around 1.7% at $6.30 after hitting a new 52-week high of $6.36 this morning. That leaves the A2 Milk share price up more than 21% over the past month.
We also have Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MIN). Mineral Resources shares have climbed more than 2% so far this Thursday and hit a new 52-week (and all-time record) high of $89.98 soon after market open.
Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE) shares are also joining in on the party. Treasury uncorked a new 52-week high of $13.97 this morning, although the shares have since lost a little flavour and are back in the red.
TechnologyOne Ltd (ASX: TNE) shares are another beneficiary of Mr Powell's optimism. This ASX 200 tech share cracked a new high of $14.22 upon market open this morning – a rather remarkable feat given this company has just traded ex-dividend today.
Financial services company AMP Ltd (ASX: AMP) hasn't missed out either. AMP was an ASX dog for several years, but seems to have turned around the ship over 2022. The company hit a new high of $1.40 at market open this morning. AMP shares are now up 36.2% in 2022 thus far.
Lower interest rates are catnip for gold, and our next winner is an ASX 200 gold miner in Perseus Mining Limited (ASX: PRU). Perseus shares have touched a new record high of $2.27 today, and are also up around 36% year to date.
Finally, we have ASX 200 travel share Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB). Webjet shares took off at market open this morning, climbing as high as $6.48 – a new 52-week high for the travel company.
So no doubt Jay Powell has more than a few fans on the ASX today,
