The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has just had one of its best weeks in a month after ending the week 1.7% higher. In a pattern investors must be becoming rather familiar with, it was once again ASX blue-chip shares that drove most of the broader market's gains, while ASX tech shares continued to show weakness.
Most ASX blue chips had a decent week. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price was up 1.25% to $86. National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB), BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) and Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) also rose. Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) had an exceptional week, rising 6.23% to a new 7-month high of $3.41 by the end of the week.
CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) was also a standout ASX blue-chip performer, rising 5.32% to $267.46.
Meanwhile, as mentioned earlier, ASX tech shares struggled over the week. Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) shares were down 2.23%, whilst Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) was down 6.51% and Altium Limited (ASX: ALU) down 2.41%. Not all ASX resources shares were in the green either. Both Resolute Mining Limited (ASX: RSG) and Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: LYC) had shocking weeks, which we'll discuss later.
But CSL was only one ASX healthcare share that had a top week. Ramsay Health Care Limited (ASX: RHC) shares were up 3.25%, while Sonic Healthcare Limited (ASX: SHL) was up almost 10%.
In other news…
We also had some interesting news from a few corners last week. Firstly, Crown Resorts Ltd (ASX: CWN) shareholders were treated to a nice surprise on Monday when it emerged that a US-based private company called Blackstone is looking at a buyout of the embattled gaming giant. That pushed Crown shares up almost 20% over the week (again, more on that later).
Meanwhile, in some news that wasn't so good for existing TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPG) shareholders, we learnt on Friday that founder and CEO David Teoh is stepping down from the company he founded in the 1980s. TPG shares fell 6.7% on Friday in response, and 7.4% over the week. That should tell you everything you need to know about how the market views Mr Teoh and his leadership.
How did the markets end the week?
The week just gone gave investors four out of five days in the green. Monday delivered a good start to the week with a 0.66% green day, which was tempered by a 0.1% slide on Tuesday. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday then built on Monday's gains with rises of 0.5%, 0.17% and 0.5% respectively. Overall, the ASX 200 started the week at 6,708.2 points and finished up at 6,824.2 points, 1.73% higher.
Meanwhile, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) started out at 6,959.6 points and finished the week at 7,063.1 points, a gain of 1.49%.
Which ASX 200 shares were the biggest winners and losers?
Time now for our most salacious segment where we look at the week's ASX 200 winners and losers. So put the kettle on as we, as always, start with the losers:
| Worst ASX 200 losers | % loss for the week |
|---|---|
| Resolute Mining Limited (ASX: RSG) | (26.56%) |
| Netwealth Group Ltd (ASX: NWL) | (14.05%) |
| TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPG) | (7.37%) |
| Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: LYC) | (7.03%) |
Resolute was the ASX 200 wooden spooner for the week. This ASX gold miner was rocked when it announced its mining licence for the Bibiani Gold Mine in the African country of Ghana has been terminated by the Ghanaian government with immediate effect. Ouch. Resolute did have plans to sell this mine to a Chinese buyer for US$105 million, but this development has obviously thrown a spanner in the works.
Next up was Netwealth Group. This funds management platform has gotten into a spot of bother due to an agreement with Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) coming to an end. It's hard to find banks that will pay anyone a decent yield on cash deposits in this current near-zero interest rate environment. Netwealth shareholders were unfortunately reminded of this fact last week.
TPG shares dropped on account of the resignation of David Teah that we mentioned earlier, whilst Lynas dropped for no obvious reason.
Now with the losers out sight and mind, let's have a look at last week's winners:
The ASX 200's biggest winner last week was Crown. As we've already discussed, Crown shares were back in favour after US private equity firm Blackstone gave the company a non-binding proposal to acquire all Crown shares for a price of $11.85 in cash per share. Crown closed on Friday at $11.79 per share after hitting $11.90 in intra-day trading, so investors are clearly expecting this deal to go through.
Agricultural company GrainCorp was also in fine form last week, rising more than 14%. The catalyst for this move appears to be a business update the company announced on Wednesday. Among other things, this told investors that GrainCorp expects earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to be $25 million higher by 2023-24 than the company previously anticipated.
Finally, Adbri and Nufarm rose without any obvious reason. Both of these companies can be categorised as rather cyclical, so perhaps these moves are just showing some investor bullishness.
A wrap of the ASX 200 blue-chip shares
Before we go, here is a look at the major ASX 200 blue-chip shares as we start on yet another week in paradise. Note the rising 52-week lows as we put the 12-month anniversary of the COVID crash low behind us:
| ASX 200 company | Trailing P/E ratio | Last share price | 52-week high | 52-week low |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) | 34.93 | $267.46 | $332.68 | $242 |
| Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) | 19.13 | $86 | $89.20 | $57 |
| Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) | 38.2 | $24.34 | $25.30 | $14.53 |
| Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) | 23.27 | $28.17 | $29.55 | $15.07 |
| National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) | 24.12 | $26.17 | $27.10 | $14.90 |
| Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) | 7.45 | $20.15 | $26.40 | $9.32 |
| Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) | 36.18 | $40.54 | $42.05 | $33.82 |
| Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) | 31.87 | $52.84 | $56.40 | $31.70 |
| BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) | 25 | $45.07 | $50.93 | $28.03 |
| Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) | 14.02 | $110.33 | $130.30 | $80.10 |
| Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) | 20.33 | $15.99 | $19.26 | $14.95 |
| Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) | 22.88 | $3.41 | $3.54 | $2.66 |
| Transurban Group (ASX: TCL) | – | $12.73 | $15.64 | $10.73 |
| Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD) | – | $5.96 | $7.49 | $4.88 |
| Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM) | 15.85 | $24.92 | $38.15 | $22.54 |
| Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) | – | $24.54 | $27.60 | $16.64 |
| Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) | 23.17 | $153.40 | $154.77 | $80 |
| Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) | – | $105.89 | $160.05 | $13.58 |
And finally, here is the lay of the land for some leading market indicators:
- S&P/ASX 200 Index (XJO) at 6,824.2 points.
- All Ordinaries Index (XAO) at 7,063.1 points.
- Dow Jones Industrial Average Index (DJX: .DJI) at 33,072.88 points after rising 1.39% on Friday night (our time).
- Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) going for US$56,220 per coin.
- Gold (spot) swapping hands for US$1,733 per troy ounce.
- Iron ore asking US$156.92 per tonne.
- Crude oil (Brent) trading at US$64.57 per barrel.
- Australian dollar buying 76.32 US cents.
- 10-year Australian Government bonds yielding 1.65% per annum.
That's all folks. See you next week after a Happy Easter!
