As we eye the final few hours of trade before Friday's closing bell, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is down 0.9% for the week despite the best lifting efforts of these three ASX 200 stocks.
One of this week's top performers is a major online furniture and homewares retailer, another is an Aussie gold miner, and the third earns its keep devising novel means to protect sensitive areas from hostile drones.
Which companies am I talking about?
Read on!
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2 ASX 200 stocks racing ahead of the benchmark
The first outperforming ASX 200 stock on my list is Emerald Resources NL (ASX: EMR).
Emerald Resources shares closed last Friday trading for $5.90. At the time of writing, shares in the ASX gold stock are changing hands for $6.28 apiece.
That sees the Emerald Resources share price up 6.4%.
There's no fresh news out from the miner this week. But Emerald Resources shares will have caught some tailwinds from the 1% increase in the gold price over the week amid increasing expectations of further interest rate cuts from the US Federal Reserve.
Gold is currently fetching US$4,318 per ounce.
Which brings us to the second ASX 200 stock posting strong gains in this week's slumping market, Temple & Webster Group Ltd (ASX: TPW).
Shares in the online furniture and homewares retailer closed last week trading for $12.63 and are currently trading for $13.63 each.
This puts the Temple & Webster share price up 7.9% for the week.
There's also no fresh price-sensitive news out from Temple & Webster this week. But shares are surging 8.7% today amid another share buyback announcement.
The company noted, "TPW may buy back up to 10% of its issued capital over the next 12 months without shareholder approval – price for any share buy-backs not to exceed 5% above the VWAP of TPW shares over the five trading days prior."
Flying ahead of the pack
Leading the charge higher this week, we find DroneShield Ltd (ASX: DRO) shares.
DroneShield shares closed last Friday trading for $2.08. In afternoon trade today, shares are changing hands for $2.63 apiece.
That sees this ASX 200 stock up 26.2% for the week, despite Thursday's 12.1% plunge.
DroneShield shares got a huge boost on Wednesday, closing up 22.2%, after the company announced a new $49.6 million contract with a European military customer.
The contract with the unnamed customer entails handheld counter drone systems, alongside the associated accessories and software updates.
