Technology led the ASX 200 market sectors again this week, gaining 2.85% over the five trading days.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) weakened by 0.94% over the week to finish at 7,421.2 points on Friday.
Four market sectors finished the week in the green.
Let's review what happened.
Tech shares led the ASX sectors again this week
This is the second consecutive week that tech stocks have led the market.
As we reported, ASX 200 tech shares gained 2.76% last week. Combined with this week's gains, tech stocks have gathered 5.6% over the past fortnight.
We saw a historic moment overseas with tech stocks this week. On Tuesday, long-time leader Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) was knocked off its perch as the world's largest company by market cap.
Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) took the mantle, with my colleague Tony reporting that the company's stake in OpenAI has encouraged more investment in recent times.
On the ASX 200 boards this week, Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) set the pace among the five biggest ASX tech shares. The Xero share price lifted 5.02% over the five trading days to close at $114.73 on Friday.
The Altium Limited (ASX: ALU) share price rose by 3.5% over the five days to finish at $48.22 on Friday. Tech sector heavyweight Wisetech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC) rose by 1.06% to $73.74.
The Nextdc Ltd (ASX: NXT) share price faltered by 1.51% to $13.72. TechnologyOne Ltd (ASX: TNE) shares were barely in the green, up by 0.33% this week to $15.42.
None of these big ASX 200 tech players released any price-sensitive news this week.
Among the smaller tech companies, EML Payments Ltd (ASX: EML) gained 34% this week. This was largely due to news that EML will close its PFS Card Services Ireland Limited (PCSIL) segment as recommended by the reconstituted board of PCSIL. EML shares closed on Friday at $1, up 9.9% for the day.
DroneShield Ltd (ASX: DRO) shares flew 4.05% higher this week to close at 39 cents on Friday. The company reported a maiden before-tax profit this week of $4 million. This compares to a $2.9 million loss in 2022.
By the way, if you're curious to know the best-performing ASX tech shares of 2023, click here.
ASX 200 market sector snapshot
Here's how the 11 market sectors stacked up this week, according to CommSec data.
Over the past five days:
| S&P/ASX 200 market sector | Change this week |
| Information Technology (ASX: XIJ) | 2.85% |
| Consumer Discretionary (ASX: XDJ) | 1.15% |
| Financials (ASX: XFJ) | 0.46% |
| Communication (ASX: XTJ) | 0.19% |
| Energy (ASX: XEJ) | (0.46%) |
| Healthcare (ASX: XHJ) | (0.48%) |
| Consumer Staples (ASX: XSJ) | (0.51%) |
| Industrials (ASX: XNJ) | (1.6%) |
| Utilities (ASX: XUJ) | (2.51%) |
| A-REIT (ASX: XPJ) | (2.76%) |
| Materials (ASX: XMJ) | (3.72%) |
