Markets rise, defy sentiment
The market continued to rise last week despite investor sentiment, with materials, healthcare and energy sectors set to provide the most opportunity, according to chief analyst at Wealth Within, Dale Gillham.
According to Gillham, last week the consumer discretionary sector was up over 2.5 per cent and, similarly, finance, energy and materials were up over two per cent.
In the top 50 stocks, Gillham said AMP recovered over eight per cent last week after heavy falls last month, and Westfarmers and APA Group were up over five per cent.
IOOF was up over 27 per cent and A2 Milk rose over 15 per cent following reporting season, while Cochlear was down over 13 per cent, and Bank of Queensland and Coles were both down over 10 per cent.
On a global scale, Gillham said markets defied negative sentiment with Asia’s Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite Index up over 2.5 per cent.
According to FE Analytics, Gillham’s suggestion to look to healthcare, materials and energy is spot on, with the energy sector sitting top spot, returning 18.96 per cent from 1 January 2019 to last week’s end.
Materials also checked out, with the index sitting in second position for the same time frame with 14.31 per cent returns, followed by telecommunication services 12.64 per cent.
Healthcare came in second-last, with returns of 2.17 per cent, but Gillham stressed that the sectors could hold opportunity going forward.
Financials sat third-last with 7.81 per cent returns for the same time period, suggesting that perhaps the Royal Commission has taken its toll on investor sentiment.
The chart below tracks the returns of the sectors for the S&P ASX 300 market sectors from 1 January 2019 to 22 February 2019.
AUTHOR
Anastasia Santoreneos
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