The Australia and New Zealand Bank Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) share price was a strong performer on Wednesday.

Its shares were the best performers among the big four banks with a gain of almost 3.5% to $23.46.

Why did the ANZ share price have a stellar day?

There appears to have been a couple of catalysts for the strong ANZ share price performance today.

The first was the release of a solid full year result from rival Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), which seems to have given the rest of the big four a lift.

For example, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) shares also rose approximately 1.5% during today’s session.

What else?

A recent note out of Credit Suisse could be helping boost the ANZ share price.

According to the note, the broker has an outperform rating and $29.25 price target on the bank’s shares. This implies potential upside of 25% for investors even after today’s gain.

Credit Suisse believes that ANZ will be an early beneficiary of a quicker and more aggressive interest rate rise cycle.

It is for this reason and its strong business banking exposure, that makes ANZ Credit Suisse’s top option for investors in the space. Particularly given its compelling valuation.

The post Why did the ANZ share price have such a stellar run today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• ‘It’s a bit unfair’: Here’s why ANZ shares are making news this week
• ANZ share price unfazed amid bank’s latest move to finance decarbonisation
• Here is the RBA interest rate outlook according to ASX 200 banks
• Guess how much ANZ shares have paid in dividends over the last 5 years

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has positions in Westpac Banking Corporation. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Westpac Banking Corporation. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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Three stocks in the S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) have reached new 52-week highs today.

This comes on a day when the All Ords Index finished 0.55% in the red and the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) also finished down 0.53%.

The companies are spread across two sectors — healthcare and real estate. Their share prices also defied the downward movement in their respective sectors today.

The S&P/ASX 200 Health Care Index (ASX: XHJ) closed down 1.49% and the S&P/ASX 200 Real Estate Index (ASX: XRE) finished 0.74% lower.

Let’s check which ASX companies recorded 52-week highs this Wednesday.

Mayne Pharma Group Ltd (ASX: MYX)  

The Mayne Pharma share price closed 4.41% higher today at 35.7 cents after hitting an intraday high of 42.5 cents just after market open. Today, the pharmaceutical company announced it was selling its Metrics Contract Services business in the US for $679 million.

Today’s movement continued the gains the share price made on Monday when Mayne Pharma announced it had received US Food and Drug Agency approval for a hormonal contraceptive ring. The company’s stock closed 1.5% higher on that news.

Sigma Healthcare Ltd (ASX: SIG) 

Another ASX healthcare share has reached a new 52-week high today. Sigma Healthcare shares closed up 2.19% at 70 cents each, reaching a high of 70.5 cents in intraday trading. The movement came on no new announcements from the company.

The rally in the pharmacy franchise company’s shares started after the stock hit a six-month low in May. More recently, Sigma’s share price has gained an impressive 11% over the last two trading sessions.

Vicinity Centres (ASX: VCX) 

Finally today, this retail property group’s share price has closed flat at $2.11 after hitting its 12-month high of $2.12 in intraday trade on Wednesday. No news emerged from the company today, suggesting its fundamentals are unchanged but its shares are rallying.

Vicinity Centres shares have gained 12.5% over the last month. 

The post 3 ASX All Ordinaries shares rocking new 52-week highs on Wednesday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Does this signify more bad news for ASX BNPL shares like Zip?
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Mayne Pharma share price rockets 25% on $680 million payday
• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Wednesday
• What’s going so wrong for ASX 200 tech shares on Wednesday?

Motley Fool contributor Matthew Farley has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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It was a disappointing day for the Zip Co Ltd (ASX: ZIP) share price today on the ASX.

Zip shares ended up finishing the trading day down by a notable 1.99% at $1.23 a share. That was a substantial underperformance from the buy now, pay later (BNPL) share against the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), which lost 0.53%.

That puts Zip at a nasty year-to-date loss of more than 70%. So it’s hardly a day where Zip shareholders would appreciate even more bad news. But that might have come their way nonetheless.

One of the largest global players in the BNPL space is the Swedish company Klarna. Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) is a major backer of Klarna, having first invested in the company in early 2021.

But how the times have changed. Back in early 2021, BNPL was all the rage for ASX investors. There were the days of Zip at $10 to $12 a share, after all.

CBA slashes its own BNPL valuations…

But CBA has just revealed what it is valuing its Klarna stake at today, and it’s not a pretty sight. So CBA released its much-anticipated full-year results for the 2022 financial year this morning. We went through the good stuff earlier today if you missed it.

But deep in CBA’s annual report, some sobering statistics were lurking regarding the bank’s stake in Klarna. The bank advised that it invested an additional $47 million into Klarna in early July as part of the BNPL provider’s latest funding round.

But CBA has now revealed that its total investment in Klarna totals $408 million as of 30 June 2022. That’s an extraordinarily painful write-down of the $2.7 billion it was valued at on 30 June 2021, a write-down worth around 85%.

Here’s some of what the bank said on this dramatic revaluation:

The $2,293m reduction in valuation from 30 June 2021 to 30 June 2022 was driven by changes in the valuation implied from each private equity capital raise, as well as the reduction in revenue multiples of market listed comparable companies.

What does this mean for the Zip share price?

Now this news isn’t directly linked to Zip of course. But the part about “the reduction in revenue multiples of market listed comparable companies” certainly alludes to Zip’s dramatic fall in value over the year so far.

It’s certainly not good news for the BNPL space as a whole, of which Zip is a big player here on the ASX.

No doubt shareholders will be hoping for some good news going forward.

At the current Zip Co share price, this ASX BNPL share has a market capitalisation of $854.5 million.

The post Does this signify more bad news for ASX BNPL shares like Zip? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• 3 ASX All Ordinaries shares rocking new 52-week highs on Wednesday
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Mayne Pharma share price rockets 25% on $680 million payday
• Why is the Block share price tumbling 5% on Wednesday?
• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Wednesday

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Liontown Resources Limited (ASX: LTR) share price yet again headed north on Wednesday.

This comes as the lithium developer’s shares have now registered 7 consecutive trading days in the green.

At market close, the company’s share price is up 1.48% to $1.72 – leading to a gain of 29.81% since this time last week.

Let’s take a look at the latest surrounding the battery metals exploration and development company.

What’s powering Liontown shares forward?

While the company hasn’t made any announcements since earlier this month, one broker weighed in on the Liontown share price.

As reported by my Fool colleague James, Bell Potter believes the ASX lithium stock is highly underrated.

The broker put out a speculative buy rating with a $2.87 price target on the company’s shares. Based on where Liontown trades currently, this implies an upside of 67% for investors.

Bell Potter noted that the company is “independent and in a strong strategic position in a market for lithium facing supply shortages.”

This comes as Liontown is fully funded for initial development of its Kathleen Valley Lithium Project in Western Australia.

The company commenced work at Kathleen Valley in 2017 and has since developed the site into a Mineral Resource Estimate of 156Mt at 1.4% lithium oxide (Li2O) and 130 parts per million (ppm) tantalum pentoxide (Ta2O5).

Also providing support, lithium carbonate prices currently remain stable – trading at US$70,500 per tonne. This reflects an increase of almost 400% year-on-year.

Other popular lithium companies such as Lake Resources N.L. (ASX: LKE) and Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) also finished higher today, up 6.45%, and 3.21%, respectively.

Liontown share price snapshot

After touching a year-to-date low of 87.5 cents on 24 June, Liontown shares are making a strong comeback, up 96%.

It appears investor sentiment is continuing to grow along with a broader recovery of the ASX after recording strong volatility in June.

When looking at year-to-date, Liontown shares are 4% higher for the period.

Based on today’s price, the company commands a market capitalisation of approximately $3.77 billion.

The post Why has the Liontown share price roared 30% higher in a week? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Here are 2 ASX lithium stocks analysts rate as buys
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Tuesday
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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