ASX 200 stocks hitting fresh 52-week highs and lows – Week 31

Welcome back to the 52-week Series – A recap of ASX 200 stocks that have tagged a fresh yearly highs and lows in the past week.

52-Week Highs and Lows by Sector

• Financials: 15 Highs, 0 Lows

• Discretionary: 7 Highs, 1 Low

• Industrials: 4 Highs, 1 Low

• Real Estate: 4 Highs, 1 Low

• Technology: 4 Highs, 0 Lows

• Health Care: 3 Highs, 1 Low

• Materials: 3 Highs, 5 Lows

• Telecommunication: 2 Highs, 1 Lows

• Staples: 1 High, 0 Lows

• Energy: 0 Highs, 2 Low

• Utilities: 0 Highs, 0 Lows

Why do 52-Week Highs and Lows Matter

Here are some of the key points our first 52-Week article:

• A research thesis by Thomas J. George and Chuan-Yang Hwang titled The 52-Week High and Momentum Investing concludes that stocks nearing their 52-week high tend to outperform in the future, surpassing the predictive power of past returns.

• US trader Mark Minervini also notes that “when you see a growing number of names in a particular industry making new 52-week highs (especially coming off a market low), this could be an indication that a group advance is underway.”

• 1851 Capital Chief Investment Officer Chris Stott says the numbers are useful in helping to determine which stocks have the momentum to keep making fresh highs. The data is used to identify continuous winners and generate fresh ideas.

What Does the Data Tell Us

• Lots of new highs but don't be deceived: Despite the ASX 200 briefly surpassing 8,100 for the first time last Thursday, it quickly retreated 2.6% on Friday. The market's path of least resistance was flipped to lower amid a build up of bearish drivers including growth concerns (e.g. US unemployment hit a three-year high), AI scrutiny and blowout capex, hawkish BoJ takeaways, rising geopolitical tensions, US election overhang and a slump in commodity prices.

• Banks rally on CPI offset by growth concerns: Several banks achieved all-time highs on Wednesday following Australia's June CPI report of 3.8%, which met market expectations. The "trimmed mean" inflation measure, a key indicator of core inflation closely monitored by the RBA, eased to 3.9% in the June quarter, slightly below the 4.0% consensus. However, this optimism was short-lived as financials faced aggressive selling in the latter half of the week, with Commonwealth Bank shares dropping 3.7% between Thursday and Friday.

• The same narrative for retailers: Retail stocks such as Wesfarmers, JB Hi-Fi, and Lovisa initially rallied on the cooling inflation data. However, they too succumbed to selling pressure on Thursday and Friday as broader growth concerns overshadowed the potential benefits of future rate cuts.

ASX 200 Financials at 52-Week Highs

Data shows any stock to have hit a 52-week high in the past week. Share price and performance as at Friday, 2 August close

Discretionary Stocks at 52-Week Highs

Data shows any stock to have hit a 52-week high in the past week. Share price and performance as at Friday, 2 August close

Other ASX 200 Stocks at 52-Week Highs

Data shows any stock to have hit a 52-week high in the past week, sorted by Sector and 1-year performance. Share price and performance as at Friday, 2 August close

ASX 200 Stocks at 52-week Lows

Data shows any stock to have hit a 52-week low in the past week, sorted by Sector and 1-year performance. Share price and performance as at Friday, 2 August close