After a promising start this morning, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) and ASX 200 stocks have settled into a bit of a lacklustre session this Thursday.
At the time of writing, the ASX 200 is up by just 0.04%, despite rising as much as 0.8% earlier this morning. Even so, this trading session has seen a plethora of ASX 200 stocks hit new 52-week highs. Let's get into them.
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8 ASX 200 stocks at new 52-week highs today
First up, we have the ASX 200 tech stocks Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) and WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC), two former members of the WAAAX club of ASX growth stocks.
Just before lunchtime today, we saw WiseTech shares hit a new high of $82.87 each. The company has since settled a little, but it still going for $81.99 up 056% for the day. The WiseTech share price is now up a whopping 66.7% in 2023 to date.
Then there's Xero. Xero shares were a latecomer to today's new highs, only touching the new high watermark of $127.68 late this afternoon. The shares are still up at a comfortable gain of 0.31%, sitting at $127.19 at present. That puts this cloud-based accounting software provider at a stunning year-to-date gain of 81.4%.
Next, we have ASX 200 property and classifieds share REA Group Ltd (ASX: REA). This owner of realestate.com.au followed the ASX 200 in spiking early this morning, hitting a new high of $152.32 a share. Again, the shares have since cooled and are now going for $150.26 each. That still leaves REA Group at a pleasant 2023 gain thus far of 38.4%.
James Hardie Industries plc (ASX: JHX) is another winner from today's trading. This building materials company has just hit a new 52-week high of $41.10 a share. At the time of writing, James Hardie shares are up a healthy 0.69% at $40.79, putting its 2023 gains at 56.4%.
Our final four
Turning back to the ASX tech sector, we have software company Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1) to check out. Megaport shares hit a new high of $10.22 this afternoon and remain up 1.9% at $9.94 at present. Megaport shares are now up almost 50% since only 10 July, and up 63% this year so far.
ASX banking and financial share Suncorp Group Ltd (ASX: SUN) is another ASX 200 stock making its investors a happy bunch this Thursday. Suncorp shares touched a new 52-week high watermark of $14.02 soon after market open this morning. The shares have since retreated, but are still up a solid 0.43% at $13.89. This puts Suncorp's 2023 performance at just under 17.5%.
Our penultimate share to examine today is ASX 200 engineering share Worley Ltd (ASX: WOR). Worley was yet another early bloomer today, hitting its new 52-week high just after market open.
Today's top of $17.17 is also a new post-COVID high for the company. Worley shares have since lost all of their early steam, and are now in the red, down 0.47% at $16.90. Still, this ASX share remains up 14.3% year to date.
Finally, let's give ASX 200 energy generator and retailer Origin Energy Ltd (ASX: ORG) a glance. Origin shares climbed to their new 52-week high of $8.69 a share early this morning – again a new post-COVID high.
But again, the shares have cooled off back into negative territory as the day has progressed, and are now down 0.12% at $8.63 each. Investors have Origin's 13.7% gain this year to comfort them, however.
