Data Insights

ASX 200 stocks with fresh 52-week highs and lows – Week 2

Mon 08 Jan 24, 2:27pm (AEST)
financial marketsasx screen stocks
Source: Shutterstock

Key Points

  • Materials and discretionary stocks led the way with numerous reaching 52-week highs, driven by iron ore strength and resilient earnings respectively
  • A recent pullback across most sectors is attributed to technical factors and shouldn't overshadow the positive long-term outlook

Welcome back to the 52-week Series – A recap of ASX 200 stocks marking yearly highs and lows in the past week.


52-Week Highs and Lows by Sector

  • Materials: 9 Highs, 2 Lows

  • Discretionary: 4 Highs, 0 Lows

  • Communication Services: 4 Highs, 0 Lows

  • Industrials: 3 Highs, 1 Low

  • Energy: 2 Highs, 0 Lows

  • Healthcare: 2 Highs, 0 Lows

  • Financials: 2 Highs, 0 Lows

  • Technology: 1 High, 0 Lows

  • Staples and Utilities: 0 Highs, 0 Lows

Why does this matter: A research thesis by Thomas J. George and Chuan-Yang Hwang titled The 52-Week High and Momentum Investing found that a) the closer a stock's current price is to its 52-week high, the stronger the stock performs in the subsequent period and b) nearness to the 52-week high is a better predictor of future returns than 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.” In 2023, this proved useful for identifying moves made by construction and building materials, iron ore and insurance stocks.

What does the data tell us:

  • Iron ore majors BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue are rallying to 52-week (if not all-time highs) after iron ore prices briefly crossed US$140 a tonne earlier this year

  • Construction and building materials stocks experienced a broad-based rally between June and September. The stocks are kicking on after a four month breather (September to late December)

  • Discretionary stocks continue to defy expectations, especially those with sound earnings

    • For example – Super Retail Group reported 4% year-on-year sales growth for the first 16 weeks of FY24 vs. Macquarie expectations of Group revenue to fall 0.6% for FY24

  • A majority of the stocks hitting 52-week highs in the past week have pulled back sharply – Just look at the '1 Week' column – Most stocks are down 3-10%

  • The pullback reflects a weak start to 2024. The blame is largely chalked up more to technical factors such as overbought conditions and stretched positioning

  • The good news is that the sheer number of stocks hitting 52-week highs is a sign of longer term strength for markets


Materials Stocks Are Making a Push

Ticker

Company Name

Close Price

Sector

1 Week

1 Year

JHX

James Hardie

$53.98

Materials

-3.61%

97.51%

BLD

Boral

$5.33

Materials

-0.56%

78.26%

CSR

CSR

$6.4

Materials

-3.18%

30.61%

FMG

Fortescue

$28.19

Materials

-3.26%

29.31%

SFR

Sandfire Resources

$6.88

Materials

-5.62%

17.21%

RIO

Rio Tinto

$132.36

Materials

-2.88%

10.64%

CIA

Champion Iron

$8.4

Materials

0.36%

4.09%

BHP

BHP Group

$49.07

Materials

-3.25%

3.28%

GOR

Gold Road Resources

$1.71

Materials

-15.35%

-7.32%


Discretionary Stocks Are Defying Expectations

Ticker

Company Name

Close Price

Sector

1 Week

1 Year

SUL

Super Retail Group

$14.54

Discretionary

-7.45%

30.64%

BRG

Breville Group

$25.47

Discretionary

-6.67%

28.77%

WES

Wesfarmers

$56.74

Discretionary

-0.67%

20.70%

JBH

JB HI-Fi

$52.69

Discretionary

-0.94%

19.40%


... And Everything Else

Ticker

Company Name

Close Price

Sector

1 Week

1 Year

REA

REA Group

$177.63

Communication Services

-2.09%

61.85%

CAR

Car Group

$30.14

Communication Services

-2.90%

47.50%

NWS

News Corp

$37.93

Communication Services

1.39%

35.37%

SEK

Seek

$25.82

Communication Services

-2.86%

23.54%

ALD

Ampol

$36.48

Energy

0.63%

34.71%

VEA

Viva Energy

$3.46

Energy

-0.86%

33.59%

HUB

Hub24

$35.82

Financials

-1.57%

29.22%

CBA

Commonwealth Bank

$112.99

Financials

0.62%

9.51%

NEU

Neuren Pharmaceuticals

$24.11

Health Care

-3.98%

172.43%

PME

Pro Medicus

$90.48

Health Care

-6.24%

62.76%

SVW

Seven Group

$36.09

Industrials

-1.88%

68.02%

REH

Reece

$21.84

Industrials

-1.84%

55.00%

VNT

Ventia Services

$3.13

Industrials

0.64%

28.28%

GMG

Goodman Group

$24.02

Real Estate

-4.72%

36.87%

HMC

HMC Capital

$5.72

Real Estate

-7.29%

30.00%

DTL

Data#3

$8.42

Technology

-0.47%

23.64%


Stocks at 52-Week Lows

Ticker

Company Name

Close Price

Sector

1 Week

1 Year

IPH

IPH

$6.42

Industrials

-0.62%

-25.35%

NIC

Nickel Industries

$0.66

Materials

-1.49%

-37.14%

ILU

Iluka Resources

$6.31

Materials

-5.54%

-37.77%

 

Written By

Kerry Sun

Content Strategist

Kerry holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Monash University. He is an avid swing trader, focused on technical set ups and breakouts. Outside of writing and trading, Kerry is a big UFC fan, loves poker and training Muay Thai. Connect via LinkedIn or email.

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