ASX ends week stronger despite blue-chip weakness

The index ended the week slightly higher despite falls in many big players.

Ryan Newman (TMFNewmy)

Ryan Newman (CFA) is the Director of Research of The Motley Fool Australia, and Portfolio Manager for the Pro and North Star services. Ryan’s interest in investing and stocks began at a young. His journey with The Motley Fool started first as a member but when the company first came to Australia he joined the team as one of our writers. Recognising his investing talent and passion, it wasn’t long before he was approached to join the investing team as a research analyst on Pro. Ryan is passionate about learning and continual development. He earned his Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation in 2022, and has completed his Bachelor of Accounting and his Graduate Certificate of Corporate Finance. Ryan loves spending time with his young family as well as non-fiction reading, catching the latest movies and following his sports team, the St Kilda Saints (AFL).

Published November 18, 2013 6:14 am AEDT

After a large setback on Wednesday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) edged marginally higher last week after suggestions that it is not yet the right time to begin tapering the US Federal Reserve bond-buying program.

The benchmark index closed 0.03% higher for the five days and closed at 5401.7 points following a strong trading period on Friday. Whilst Telstra (ASX: TLS), Commonwealth Bank (ASX: CBA), ANZ (ASX: ANZ), Westpac (ASX: WBC) and NAB (ASX: NAB) all lost ground for the week, it was the information technology sector that recognised the largest gains.

Computershare (ASX: CPU) rose 4.8% to finish at $11.15 per share whilst Integrated Research (ASX: IRI) soared 14.9% following their annual general meeting on Friday.

Chemicals and explosives manufacturer Orica (ASX: ORI) contributed to the bourse more than any other stock, adding 19.8% in value, whilst building materials supplier James Hardie (ASX: JHX) also added 13.2%. Meanwhile, CSR (ASX: CSR), Myer (ASX: MYR) and BlueScope Steel (ASX: BSL) also gained 13.4%, 13.2% and 12%, respectively.

On the other hand, utilities was the worst performing sector with AGL Energy (ASX: AGK) falling 1.1%.

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