The ASX is heading for a lacklustre start to trading later today after last week’s less than convincing rebound from the sharp falls at the start of the month.
Eurozone shares rose 0.4% on Friday; the US S&P 500 could only manage a rise of just 0.03% which saw the overnight ASX 200 futures close Saturday up 6 points or 0.1% meaning a less than stellar start to the week is ahead of us.
By Friday’s close, the ASX 200 index had risen 21.5 points, or 0.4%, this week to close at 6165.3.
That meant the index went nowhere near recovering the 2.8% slide the week before.
Insurance stocks took a battering thanks to the disclosures in the Hayne royal commission, Freedom Insurance fell 24%, Clearview lost 2%, AMP dropped 4.8% (its back before the inquiry this week), QBE Insurance lost 1%, Insurance Australia Group fell 1.2% and Suncorp Group shares dropped 3.7%.
A strong rise in oil prices this week on the back of stories about potential supply disruptions from Hurricane Florence pushed energy stocks higher. But those fears disappeared over the weekend.
Origin Energy shares jumped nearly 8%, Viva Energy shares were up 8.6%, Woodside Petroleum lifted 3.3% and Beach Energy jumped 4.8%.
The information technology sector rebounded from last week’s sell-off, led by Afterpay Touch which rebounded 15.1% last week; Wisetech Global shares added 3.8%, Altium rose 2%, Appen ended up 2.8% ahead and NEXTDC shares closed 3% higher.
The major miners all gained over the week. BHP rose 1.3%, Rio Tinto added 4.1% and South32 surged 8.1%. Fortescue Metals shares added more than 3% on Friday but still lost 1.8% over the week.
Gold miner Regis Resources was among the index’s worst performing stocks this week, falling 7.4% as global prices were weaker. Fellow gold miner Resolute Mining closed 4.8% and Evolution Mining ended the week down 4.3% while lithium miner, Galaxy Resources saw its shares drop 6%.
The big banks were weak. Commonwealth Bank shares – its former Comminsure business was an unwanted ‘star’ – were up 1.4% by the close on Friday. But the others were weak. Westpac shares eased 0.1%, ANZ shares also lost ground, dropping 0.8% while NAB shares eased 1.9%. That weakness held back the wider market.
Shares in TPG ended at $8.40 (up 0.7% on the day) on Friday ahead of the release of its full year figures tomorrow. The shares are up more than 40% since the merger with Vodafone Australia was announced in July.
Myer shares starred after its expected big loss for 2017-18. the shares jumped sharply on Thursday and closed on Friday with a gain for the week of 32%.
