ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX snaps winning streak… just

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has snapped its 2-week winning streak (if you can call that a streak) and has recorded a week-to-week loss of 0.1% last week. Even so, the ASX 200 finished up on Friday at 6,167 points – which is a high level relative to the past 7 months. It was a week of extremes. The ASX 200 started off on Monday very strong, building on the performance and momentum of the past 2 weeks, even hitting a new post-March high of 6,243 points on Monday afternoon. As for the rest of the week, it was all downhill. But more on that later!

Last week was a week of fairly tame news and developments. We saw Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) once again make a new all-time high, passing $100 per share for the first time on Tuesday before going as high as $105.80 later that day. This was triggered by an announcement that the buy now, pay later pioneer would be partnering up with Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) to provide savings accounts and other 'traditional' banking services. The Afterpay share price ended the week slightly lower at a still-respectable $102.13.

In a completely different industry, we also saw REA Group Limited (ASX: REA) make a new all-time record. This time, it was at the end of the week, when the REA share price hit $127.06 for the first time on Friday.

ASX travel shares also had a good week, bucking the trend of the broader ASX 200. This was probably catalysed by Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) holding its annual general meeting (AGM) during the week. Qantas chair, Richard Goyder, had this to say on the prospects for travel in 2021:

By early next year, we may find that Korea, Taiwan and various islands in the Pacific are top Qantas destinations while we wait for our core international markets like the US and UK to re-open. We're already doing this domestically – adding new destinations that suddenly make sense.

That was music to the ears of investors in the travel sector. The Qantas share price was up 8.1% over the week, with Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) and Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB) also rising.

How did the markets end the week?

As we flagged earlier, it was a rather topsy-turvy week for ASX 200 shares. Monday started strong with a 0.9% rise. But Tuesday began the falls with a 0.7% drop. This was minimally reversed with a 0.1% gain on Wednesday, which was wiped out by Thursday's 0.3% fall. Friday sealed the deal with another 0.11% fall.

Meanwhile, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) had a very flat week, starting out at 6,385 points on Monday and finishing up at 6,373.7 points on Friday for an overall loss of 0.07%.

Which ASX 200 shares were the biggest winners and losers?

Ok, it's time to get salacious with our Foolish answer to the gossip pages. So brew some tea while we start with last week's ASX 200 losers!

Last week's wooden spoon went to Iluka Resources, with an apparently devastating 47.2% drop in value. However, it's nowhere near as bad as it looks for Iluka shareholders. This drop is largely a result of a demerger that happened during the week, with Iluka spinning off Deterra Royalties (ASX: DRR). Existing Iluka shareholders were eligible to receive one Deterra share for every one Iluka share owned.

However, there was no such excuse for gold miner, Resolute. Resolute delivered a quarterly update during the week, which flagged lower production volumes and higher costs – not normally a recipe for happy shareholders.

It was a similar story with tech provider Megaport, which issued a rather negative update of its own last week.

Finally, we had Graincorp, which fell 10% last week despite no major news coming out of the agribusiness. These things just happen sometimes.

Now with the losers out of the way, let's check out last weeks winners:

Taking out the silver spoon last week was medical wunderkind Pro Medicus. Pro Medicus inked a lucrative $10 million contract with German company, LMU Klinikum, a few weeks ago, which evidently is still winning stamps of approval from investors.

Next up we had steel company, BlueScope. BlueScope reported some guidance for the FY2021's first half last week, which flagged a 12.4% year-on-year increase in underlying earnings. A share price rise is fair enough, I'd say!

Qantas was next up with an 8.1% increase for the week – a rise that seems to have been driven by its previously-discussed AGM, as well as general positive sentiment towards the travel sector's outlook in light of the low levels of coronavirus cases around the country in recent weeks.

Finally, annuity provider Challenger also made the list with a 7.9% appreciation. Challenger also gave investors a quarterly update, which reconfirmed its previously-issued profit guidance. Challenger is a business that is heavily affected by interest rates. With all the talk of further cuts, it seems investors were relieved at some certainty for the company.

What does this week look like for the ASX 200?

There'll be a few events of significance to keep an eye on this week. I'll be very interested to see what Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) has up its sleeve on Thursday, particularly in the dividend department, when the big four bank releases its full-year earnings. Also hitting the markets with a quarterly update on Wednesday is Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL). Again, it will be interesting to see how Coles' sales are holding up after a bumper start to the year, courtesy of the pandemic.

Finally, expect increasing volatility coming out of the United States as its presidential election campaign draws to a close. With Americans voting on 3 November, the market-moving potential for events like shifts in polling trends, major policy announcements or outrageous behaviour is only increasing.

So before we go, here's a look at how the major ASX 200 blue chips are shaping up as we start the week: