ASX 200 closes at record high
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The news: The Australian sharemarket ended the week on a record high, following Wall Street as the Nasdaq and S&P 500 both finished on record highs.
The numbers: The benchmark ASX 200 finished up 0.61% to 7,745.6, with eight out of 11 sectors finishing in green.
The top performing sector was materials up 1.99%, followed by IT (1.87%) and energy (0.94%). Large material companies were up including BHP (2.09%), Fortescue (0.93%), Rio Tinto (0.87%), James Hardie Industries (1.1%), and Northern Star Resources (0.39%). BHP today announced that outgoing NAB CEO Ross McEwan would be joining its board in April.
The best performing stock was Life360 which ended the week up 39.22%. The location sharing company posted earnings that saw revenue lift 33%, losses narrow to USD28.1 million ($43.17 million), and plans to create a new advertising stream.
Healthcare was the worst performing sector, down 1.52%, followed by communication services (-0.66%), and consumer discretionary (-0.32%). The two largest healthcare companies CSL and Cochlear lost ground at -1.42% and -3.99% respectively.
The worst performing stock was Audinate Group that was down 7.12%.
Within the broader sharemarket, Collins Foods fell 7.82%, after Citi analysts downgraded the food supplier to a “sell” rating.
The context: Despite earnings season wrapping up today, next week will see the Australian Bureau of Statistics release the latest quarterly GDP figures while US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell gives a two-day testimony before US Congress.
Meanwhile, China will release its annual GDP target and the European Central Bank will announce its latest monetary policy next week as well.
