Three S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) stocks are doing more than their fair share to get the benchmark index off to a strong start in June.
After gaining a somewhat tepid 0.5% in May, the ASX 200 is up 1.9% so far in June.
A trend we hope to see continue!
With under three hours left before the closing bell sounds the end of trading for the first week of the new month, here are the three ASX 200 stocks leading the charge higher.
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Three soaring ASX 200 stocks
First up we have Graincorp Ltd (ASX: GNC).
Shares in the agribusiness and processing company closed out May trading for $8.32. At the time of writing, shares are swapping hands for $9.32 apiece, up 12.0% in June.
That sees the Graincorp share price up more than 29% so far in 2024. The ASX 200 stock also trades on a fully franked dividend yield of 3.0%.
As for what helped lift the share price this week, Graincorp shares look to have caught some tailwinds from a better-than-expected crop forecast.
As Motley Fool analyst James Mickleboro wrote earlier in the week:
Bell Potter's analysts note that the ABARE June east coast crop forecast has surprised to the upside. This implies another strong cropping outcome for Graincorp in FY 2025, with the initial June forecast implying the fifth largest crop on record.
Amid Graincorp's strong run this year, Bell Potter increased its price target to $9.90 a share, implying a potential upside of more than 6% from current levels.
Which brings us to the second ASX 200 stock leading the gainers board in June, Healius Ltd (ASX: HLS), Australia's second-largest pathology provider.
The Healius share price closed out May at $1.27. At the time of writing, shares are changing hands for $1.38 apiece, up 8.7% in June. Despite that big weekly gain, shares remain down more than 16% in 2024.
Investor interest may have been stirred by the company's announcement on 30 May that it had entered into a long-term agreement with Australia's largest Phase 1 clinical research business, Nucleus Network, as its preferred safety pathology provider.
Under the agreement, Healius Pathology will provide safety laboratory testing services for Nucleus Network's Australian clinical trial sites in Brisbane, Melbourne and Geelong.
Rounding off the list of ASX 200 stocks leading the charge higher in June is The Star Entertainment Group Ltd (ASX: SGR).
Shares in the casino operator closed out May trading for 45 cents apiece. At the time of writing, shares are trading for 49 cents, up 8.9% in June.
That leaves the Star Entertainment share price down just under 7% in 2024.
With no fresh news out from the company, investors may have been doing some bargain hunting after the ASX 200 stock tanked 16.7% in the last two weeks of May.
That big drop came after Star addressed media rumours to confirm it had not received a proposal directly from Hard Rock Hotels and Casinos.
