If you’re looking for ASX 200 blue chip shares to add to your portfolio, then read on!

Listed below are two blue chip shares that have been rated as buys by analysts. Here’s what they are saying about them right now:

QBE Insurance Group Ltd (ASX: QBE)

This insurance giant could be a top option for investors looking for ASX 200 blue chip shares to buy.

Especially given its increasingly positive outlook thanks to premium increases, cost outs, and rising interest rates.

It is for these reasons that Morgans is bullish on the company. The broker also highlights that its shares are currently trading at a level that appears “relatively inexpensive.”

Morgans has an add rating and $16.96 price target on QBE’s shares. This compares favourably to the latest QBE share price of $14.53. In addition, the broker is forecasting dividend yields of 5.6% and 6.4%, respectively, for the next two financial years.

Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES)

Another ASX 200 blue chip share that could be in the buy zone right now is Wesfarmers.

It is the conglomerate behind a high quality portfolio of businesses across a range of industries. This includes Bunnings, Kmart, Target, WesCEF, Officeworks, Priceline, and Flybuys.

UBS is a fan of the company and believes its WesCEF business is well-placed to deliver strong earnings again this year.

The broker currently has a buy rating and $55.50 price target on its shares. So, with the Wesfarmers share price trading at $49.76, this suggests potential upside of 11.5% for investors.

In addition, income investors can expect some attractive dividend yields in the near term. UBS is forecasting 3.7% and 4% dividend yields, respectively, over the next two years.

The post 2 high quality blue chip ASX 200 shares named as buys by analysts appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• $1,600 annual dividend income from a $20,000 ASX share portfolio? Here’s how
• Morgans says buy these ASX dividend shares for passive income
• How to make passive income for life with just $5 a day
• Is time running out to buy high-yield ASX dividend shares?
• Stay away from this ASX sector (and buy this one instead): expert

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro 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 positions in and has recommended Wesfarmers. 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 BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share price charged higher on the market on Thursday.

BHP shares rose 2.4% to close the day at $46.08. For perspective, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) lifted 1.02% today.

Let’s take a look at how the day played out for the BHP share price.

Iron ore prices rise

BHP shares may have risen today, but multiple other ASX 200 iron ore producers also edged higher.

Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX: FMG) shares lifted 2.13%, while RIO Tinto Ltd (ASX: RIO) jumped 1.8%.

The iron ore price climbed 2% overnight to US$123.30 a tonne.

It appeared to lift amid positive sentiment out of China, the world’s largest importer of the commodity.

Commenting on this optimism in a research report today, ANZ economist John Broomhead said:

Iron ore futures were steady, following gains earlier in the week on optimism that China’s construction period will boost demand.

Traders have shrugged off pollution-controlling curbs on steel output and lingering concerns around the property slump in recent weeks. With fixed asset investment showing signs of improvement, the mood has lifted.

Iron ore on the Singapore Exchange is currently fetching US$122.85 a tonne at last look.

Eligible BHP shareholders were due to receive a FY23 interim dividend in their bank accounts today. The company declared a dividend of US 90 cents a share.

This is down 40% from the US$1.50 cents a share paid out in the first half of FY22.

Goldman Sachs is tipping BHP will pay a fully franked final dividend of US$1.21 per share in the second half of this year.

Share price snapshot

The BHP share price has risen 2.32% in the last year. However, it has climbed 3.43% in the past month.

BHP has a market capitalisation of about $233.4 billion based on today’s closing share price.

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

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More reading

• ASX shares are paying out $19 billion in dividends this week. Are you getting a piece?
• Here’s the Rio Tinto dividend forecast through to 2025
• The trimmed-down BHP dividend will be paid today. What’s next?
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Buy BHP and this ASX 200 mining share now: analysts

Motley Fool contributor Monica O’Shea 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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The ASX exchange-traded fund (ETF) sector is a great place to find opportunities that can provide diversification and growth for a portfolio. I’d love to add two of them to my portfolio.

I like the companies that are on the ASX, but the Australian share market is only a small part of the overall picture. So I think it’s a good idea to get exposure to good global businesses.

There are many good ways to invest in global shares via ETFs. But, I think these two options would be high-quality picks and improve my portfolio.

Betashares Global Cybersecurity ETF (ASX: HACK)

The concept of this ASX ETF is that it provides exposure to leading companies in the global cybersecurity sector.

Readers may have heard of, or even use, some of the largest businesses in the portfolio: Fortinet, Cisco Systems, Broadcom, Palo Alto Networks, Infosys, Okta, Open Text, Juniper and Crowdstrike. Most of these positions are listed in the US.

While it’s a concerning situation, the growing amount of cyber-attacks means that cybersecurity businesses could continue to see growing demand. Just look at what’s happened to some ASX names recently like Medibank Private Limited (ASX: MPL), Latitude Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: LFS) and IPH Ltd (ASX: IPH).

According to BetaShares, the cybersecurity market is expected to grow from US$248.26 billion in 2023 to US$478.68 billion in 2030.

I think this can be both a defensive and growth ASX ETF.

VanEck MSCI International Quality ETF (ASX: QUAL)

The VanEck MSCI International Quality ETF is invested in the world’s “highest quality companies based on key fundamentals” including a high return on equity (ROE), earnings stability and low financial leverage.

VanEck says that “investments focusing on companies with quality characteristics have delivered outperformance over the long term relative to global equity benchmarks.”

It’s invested in around 300 companies across a range of geographies and sectors.

As at 29 March 2023, the ASX ETF had the following positions with weightings of more than 2.5%: Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia, Meta Platforms, Home Depot, Visa and Alphabet.

I think the quality of the investment method and holdings have come through with its long-term net returns – over the past five years VanEck MSCI International Quality ETF has returned an average of around 12.30%, beating the average return of the MSCI World ex Australia Index of 10.06% per annum.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance, but I think this impressive outperformance can continue over the long term because of the quality focus.

The post 2 amazing ASX ETFs I’d love to buy for my portfolio appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• No savings? Drip-feed $500 a month into ASX shares and aim to retire in comfort
• 3 fantastic ETFs for ASX investors to buy in April
• 3 high quality ETFs for ASX investors to buy after the market selloff
• Want to invest in cybersecurity but don’t know how? Try this ASX ETF
• 3 excellent ETFs for ASX investors to buy for the long term

Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison 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 Alphabet, Apple, BetaShares Global Cybersecurity ETF, Cisco Systems, CrowdStrike, Fortinet, Home Depot, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, Okta, Palo Alto Networks, and Visa. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Broadcom and Open Text and has recommended the following options: long March 2023 $120 calls on Apple and short March 2023 $130 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended BetaShares Global Cybersecurity ETF. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Alphabet, Apple, CrowdStrike, IPH, Meta Platforms, Nvidia, and Okta. 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 S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) spent Thursday in the green, gaining 1.02% to close at 7,122.3 points.

It followed an equally good night over on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average Index (DJX: .DJI) rose 1% while the S&P 500 Index (SP: .INX) lifted 1.4% and the Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: .IXIC) gained 1.8%.

Back home, the S&P/ASX 200 Information Technology Index (ASX: XIJ) led the way, rising 1.7% today.

Banks and mining companies also made the most of the day. The S&P/ASX 200 Financials Index (ASX: XFJ) and the S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ) both rose 1.5%.

S&P/ASX 200 Real Estate Index (ASX: XJO) had the worse end of the stick, however, falling 0.2% on Thursday.

So, with all that covered, which ASX 200 share posted the biggest gain today? Let’s take a look.

Top 10 ASX 200 shares countdown

The biggest gains on the index today came from uranium producer Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN).

Its share price gained 8.33% to close at 65 cents despite no news having been released by the company.

These shares made today’s biggest gains:

ASX-listed company	Share price	Price change
Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN)	$0.65	8.33%
Iress Ltd (ASX: IRE)	$9.84	5.81%
NRW Holdings Limited (ASX: NWH)	$2.37	5.33%
Regis Resources Ltd (ASX: RRL)	$1.995	5%
Chalice Mining Ltd (ASX: CHN)	$7.31	4.58%
Lake Resources NL (ASX: LKE)	$0.47	4.44%
AMP Ltd (ASX: AMP)	$1.08	4.35%
Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1)	$4.13	4.29%
Credit Corp Group Limited (ASX: CCR)	$16.51	3.84%
Virgin Money UK CDI (ASX: VUK)	$2.62	3.56%

Our top 10 shares countdown is a recurring end-of-day summary to let you know which companies were making big moves on the day. Check in at Fool.com.au after the weekday market closes to see which stocks make the countdown.

The post Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why Appen, Regis Resources, Syrah, and Zip shares are charging higher today
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
• Why Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, Jervois Global, Megaport, and NAB are dropping today
• Sunk $3,000 into AMP shares 5 years ago? Here’s how much passive income you’ve realised
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today

Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper 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 Megaport. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Megaport. 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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