ASX 200 finishes the week higher, Afterpay gains 47%
We look back at the week’s trading on the ASX 200. Energy and materials shares kept the index in the black after financials and healthcare lost ground.
ASX 200 shares end Friday on a positive note
The Australia 200 finished the week up 1.3% after the bulls took back control at the end of a see-sawing week.
The benchmark Australian index rose on Friday to finish the session at 5,391.10 points, up 71.30 points from last Friday’s close.
The week got off to a bright start with the first two trading sessions comfortably in the black as banking and energy shares surged. Then the bears took over, banks eased, energy shares cooled, but healthcare turned positive.
As the week drew to a close, the ASX energy 200 index was on top with a rise of 4.1% off the back of oil’s rally. The materials index, all-important for the mining heavy ASX, rose 3.7% after a sluggish start, while financials finished up 1.7% after a stronger start.
Meanwhile, healthcare started the week off negative, then turned positive, then turned negative again to finish down 1.2% by Friday.
Travel shares soar on PM news
News on Friday that the federal government had laid out a plan to open the economy back up again helped push Flight Centre (FLT) up 17.7% for the week to finish at $10.73, while Webjet (WEB) leapt 18% to $2.95.
By comparison, blue-chip airline Qantas (QAN), rose a more modest 0.9% to $3.42.
Elsewhere, shares in buy now pay later company Zip (Z1P) surged 14% to finish the week at $3.27. Zip released an update for April that included a 81% jump in revenue.
But Zip was outdone by main rival Afterpay (APT), which ended the week up 47.6% at $39.88. It won the week for company news after welcoming Hong Kong’s Tencent to the register on Monday.
Australia's traditional banks lagged the BNPL up-starts but still finished the week in positive territory. National Australia Bank (NAB) finished strongest, up 2.1% for the week to finish at $16.09. National Australia Bank (WBC) rose 1.8% to $15.60, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) climbed 1.5% to $59.75, while ANZ Banking Group (ANZ) slumped 1.3% to $15.82.
Investment bank Macquarie Group (MQG) said its net profits fell by 8% as a result of higher impairment charges. Even so, the company’s shares still finished the week up 11.2% to $105.65.
Mining giant BHP Group (BHP) rose 3.0% to end the week at $31.45. While rival Rio Tinto (RIO), which copped a 32% protest vote from shareholders over its emissions reporting policies on Thursday, slipped 4.8% to $83.12.
And in energy, which has been getting all the headlines lately, Woodside Petroleum (WPL) jumped 7.9% to finish the week at $20.36, Santos (STO) rose 12.2% to $4.87 and Oil Search (OSH) surged 10.3% to $2.88.
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