ASX Round-up: ASX Breaks Five Week Losing Streak

The S&P/Australian Securities Exchange 200 rose 0.39 percent or 20.50 points today to finish at 5318.2 points. As the Sydney Morning Herald reported, that slight gain, broke a losing streak of five weeks for the market. Helping bolster the sharemarket was a strong performance from Australia’s four major banks. Analysts believe that the outlook for the Australian economy is still positive, despite the string of recent losses in the stock market.

However, resource companies had a difficult trading day on the ASX 200 this Friday. Mount Gibson Iron (ASX:MGX) experienced the biggest loss, as the Western Australian independent iron producer dropped 6.73 percent or $0.035 to trade at $0.485. Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (ASX:LNG), an LNG plant operator, also declined, losing 5.62 percent to trade at $3.53 per share.

No resource companies made the list of top gainers, with even major miners suffering through the week. The Herald reported that BHP Billiton (ASX:BHP) lost 2.1 percent to trade at $33.45 this week, while Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) dropped 2.2 percent to $58.80.