ASX 200 re-writes history. Which companies are leading the charge?

What a momentous day this Friday is turning out to be for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) and most ASX shares. Yesterday, the ASX 200 closed at 7,889.6 points. But the index has enjoyed a spectacular open this morning.

After opening where it closed at yesterday, the Index has been steadily climbing all day, peaking at a new high of 7,969.1 points.

Not only is that a new 52-week high for the ASX 200 Index, but a new all-time record high.

At the time of writing, investors have cooled their jets a little, but the index is still sitting at 7,965.9 points, up a confident 0.97% for the day thus far.

It’s certainly not every day we see a new all-time high for the Australian share market. So investors across the country, savour this moment.

This latest run push for ASX shares comes after what has been a very strong run over the past year or so. Since July 2023, the Index has now gained a rosy 11.6%. The ASX 200 is also up a healthy 4.4% year to date in 2024 so far, as well as up 3.24% over the past month alone.

Check out those moves below for some visual context:

But the ASX 200 is really just a representation of the two hundred largest shares on the Australian stock market. So today, let’s dive into which ASX 200 shares have helped push the Index to today’s new record high.

Which ASX 200 shares are leading the charge to a new record high?

Anyone who has been following the ASX 200 probably knows that this index isn’t exactly balanced when it comes to different corners of the market. In fact, a whopping 31.28% of the index is currently weighted towards financial shares (mostly banks). Another 20.88% is taken up by mining shares.

Looking at the current top ten stocks in the ASX 200, we can see why.

The ASX 200 is, like most global indexes, weighted by market capitalisation. This means that the largest companies by size on our stock market have the largest presence in the ASX 200.

Here are the current top ten shares in the ASX 200 Index:

1. BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) with a weighting of 9.38%
2. Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) at 9.22%
3. CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL) at 6.16%
4. National Australian Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) at 4.76%
5. Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) at 4.1%
6. ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: ANZ) at 3.83%
7. Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) at 3.23%
8. Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) at 3.1%
9. Goodman Group (ASX: GYG) at 2.6%
10. Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) 2.32%

You might notice that the big four banks and BHP alone account for 31.3% of the ASX 200’s weighting.

As such, these are the shares that have the largest impact on the movements of the index. Something like BHP, with its 9.38% weight in the ASX 200, is going to influence the index more than, for instance, Strike Energy Ltd (ASX: STX), with its weight of 0.03%.

Let’s now look at how these ASX 200 trendsetters have performed over the past month.

A great month for the ASX banks

BHP shares have fallen 0.08% since this time last month. So we can’t thank BHP too much for today’s new all-time high.

CBA, on the other hand, is a different story.

The CBA share price has exploded 5% higher over the past month alone and is also up a happy 14.7% in 2024 to date.

This means that this leading ASX bank stock has done much of the heavy lifting with today’s new high.

The other ASX banks have helped though. NAB shares are also up by around 5.8% over the past month. This bank has also gained more than 19% in 2024 so far. As such, the ASX 200 also owes NAB a thank-you note for today’s new high.

It’s a similar story for Westpac and ANZ. Westpac shares have climbed just over 4% in the past month, and ANZ by 2.33%. These banks are up 20.3% and 13.3%, respectively, over 2024 so far.

CSL shares have also been helpful. The healthcare giant has risen by a strong 8.22% since this time last month and has gained nearly 6% over 2024 to date.

Foolish takeaway

Sure, there are other shares in the ASX 200 that have done far better than these stocks. But when it comes down to it, the shares above are what investors can credit for today’s new all-time high.

Keep an eye on these names going forward as well because they will also determine the ASX 200’s next step.

The post ASX 200 re-writes history. Which companies are leading the charge? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has positions in CSL and National Australia Bank. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended CSL, Macquarie Group, and Wesfarmers. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Macquarie Group and Wesfarmers. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended CSL. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.