The Week Ahead – Stock Markets

After weeks of relentless selling the market provided a decent rally to end the week. The S&P 500 saw a nice jump rising 3.44% during Friday’s trading session. This may provide investors and traders some positive momentum for the beginning of the week. Whilst the market is still holding a down trend, it was able to bounce of the bottom of the downward channel.  Similar moves were seen on the NASDAQ and the Dow Jones as well as other global indices.

In Australia, the ASX 200 was not quite as productive as the American indices in its Friday session. The Aussie market may catch some of the gains from the Friday US session in the early part of the week. Inflationary pressures have eased somewhat with hard commodities such as Oil and Natural Gas have pulled back from their recent highs. This has also supported leading to money flowing back into growth markets. Small Cap companies had an important day as the market rallied, lifting 3.31%. This marks the strongest day since July 2020 and some much-needed relief after a brutal sell off.

As the end of the financial year approaches, tax selling should be expected on the market. Furthermore, it is a time where funds and fixed weight portfolios rebalance their assets.

Stocks in the spotlight

Anteris Technologies, (AVR)

The Bio/Medi Tech company saw great growth in its share price during the last week as it climbed more than 33%. The company announced a 6-month update of its first cohort of 5 patients using its DurAVR 3D Single piece aortic valve. The results showed an 86% improvement in Haemodynamic/normal blood flows since the product was implanted into patients. The company’s share price rose to $28.30 its highest level since 2019 om the back of these results. With a relatively small float the share price can be quite volatile and have a high daily range.

BlueScope Steel (BSL)

Blue Scope Steele has seen a large drop in its share price sitting just above its long-term support. The large Steele manufacturer has seen as the market reacts to an increase in costs for the manufacturing and construction sectors. The share price has been trending downward after peaking in August 2021.

Woolworths (WOW)

Consumer staple Woolworth’s had a strong rally as its share price rose 7.26% to $35.46 after slipping to as low as $32.60 in the middle of June. The company’s share price has held up relatively well during the recent volatility as inflation and geopolitical pressure have seen much of the market slip.