Yahoo Finance ASX finishes week on a high
The ASX finished the week on a positive note by marking its best week since March.
The benchmark ASX 200 added 42 points, or 0.6 per cent, to close on Friday at 7629 points.
All 11 industry sectors rose, with consumer discretionary gaining the biggest boost at two per cent.
It comes as Wesfarmers — which runs Bunnings, Kmart and Officeworks — rose 2.8 per cent at the close in what was a positive day following it’s annual strategy day on Thursday.
The conglomerate briefly celebrated a new shares record high of $68.68 during Friday’s trade before it finished at the close on $68.31.
However, Block Inc was Friday’s top performer as it rose 9.8 per cent.
The company had recorded the largest gain after its latest quarterly results, adding almost 10 per cent to its share price.
Arisocrate also added 2.3 per cent, Goodman increased by 2.7 per cent and Xero rose 1.3 per cent.
Property and tech also fared well at the close, increasing by 1.6 per cent and 1.2 per cent respectively.
Westpac rose 1.5 per cent ahead of its annual reports on Monday.
Macquarie Group was the sole major bank to lose ground in the wake of its disappointing full-year profit, which fell 32 per cent to $3.522bn.
Annual earnings per share was $9.17, down from the prior year’s $13.54.
Chief executive Shemara Wikramanayake said she was taking a “cautious stance” as the group continued to deal with “significant volatility events,” and mounting geopolitical issues.
“Macquarie remains well positioned to deliver superior performance in the medium term with its diverse business mix across annuity-style and markets-facing businesses,” Ms Wikramanayake said.
She added that hope wasn’t lost as Macquarie had a history of having a “strong and conservative balance sheet and a proven risk management framework and culture”.
Meanwhile, CommSec analysis found the best and worst stocks for the week at the close on Friday.
Uranium miner Boss Energy rose 21.2 per cent after uranium supply concerns during the week.
Acadium Lithium and Pex Group also peaked highest with 19.9 per cent and 19 per cent respectively.
Meanwhile, Autobarn owner Bapcor delivered the worst result this week dipping 19.3 per cent after cutting its profit guidance.
Macquarie will pay a final ordinary dividend of $3.85 per share, 40 per cent franked.
The Aussie dollar gained 0.11 per cent against the Greenback to buy US65.74c.
