It was a rough week overall for the ASX — a lot of it driven by surging oil prices and rising bond yields rather than company-specific news.
The big picture: The ASX 200 fell about 3% over the week, closing Friday at 8,741 points, down 0.9% on the day alone. Oil spiking past US$108/barrel on Middle East tensions, plus climbing bond yields, spooked investors across the board — 150 of the 200 stocks in the index finished Friday in the red.
Friday's winners (insurance/financials had a strong day):
Insurance Australia Group +3.5% AUB Group +3.5% QBE Insurance Group +3% Suncorp Group +2.95% Ingenia Communities Group +3.1%
Friday's losers (miners and uranium/lithium plays got hammered):
GQG Partners -9.5% Deep Yellow -9.2% Paladin Energy -9.2% Liontown -9% Develop Global -8.6%
Sector-wise: Materials was the worst-hit sector for the week, down 3.3%, followed by Real Estate and Healthcare. Financials was actually the standout, up 1% for the week.
Copper had an interesting side story too — it hit a record high of US$14,853/tonne mid-week before tumbling about 4.5% on profit-taking and "speculative bubble" concerns.