The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to end the week deep in the red after a major selloff on Wall Street overnight. In late morning trade the benchmark index is down 3.1% to 5,774.1 points.

There are not many shares that have managed to push higher today. But four shares that have are listed below. Here’s why they are on the rise:

The Mach7 Technologies Ltd (ASX: M7T) share price has returned from a trading halt and jumped 7.5% to 85 cents. Investors have been buying the enterprise image management systems provider’s shares after it announced the acquisition of Client Outlook for ~A$40.8 million. Client Outlook is a leading provider of an enterprise image viewing technology called eUnity. It increases Mach7’s addressable market opportunity from US$0.75 billion to US$2.75 billion.

The Meridian Energy Ltd (ASX: MEZ) share price is up 1.5% to $4.57. Investors have been buying the renewable energy company’s shares due to its status as a safe haven asset. The New Zealand-based energy company has operations on both sides of the Tasman sea.

The Spark Infrastructure Group (ASX: SKI) share price has risen 3% to $2.16. As with Meridian, Spark is seen as a safe haven asset and investors will often flock to it when markets become volatile. Incidentally, one broker that is positive on Spark is Macquarie. Last week it put an outperform rating and $2.33 price target on the company’s shares. This could mean there’s still further for its shares to run from here.

The TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPM) share price is up over 0.5% to $8.10. Investors have been buying the telecommunications company’s shares after it revealed the special dividend it plans to pay if its Vodafone Australia merger completes as planned. TPG Telecom plans to pay a fully franked special dividend in the range of 49 cents per share to 52 cents per share. This equates to a generous 6% to 6.4% dividend yield based on its current share price.

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James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of MACH7 FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. 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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A Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) economic release reported improved consumer sentiment up 16.4% in May. We examine the release and its implications for the  S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).  

The 10 June economic release, penned by Westpac’s Chief Economist Bill Evans, reported improved consumer confidence to be back “around pre-COVID levels”, having “recovered all of the extreme 20% drop seen when the pandemic exploded in March-April.” 

The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment recorded the 16.4% gain in May. A rise to 88.1 from the “extremely weak” 75.6 in April.

Evans reported that the Index is now only 2% below the average established in the September-February period. 

However, the release did warn that given the difficult recovery ahead, “it would be surprising if the recent upward momentum continues.” 

Further, the release pointed out that while the monthly gain was impressive, the index is still “relatively weak by historical standards — in pessimistic territory overall and down 7% on a year ago.” 

COVID recession and 1990s recession: better times ahead

While the release found that the data still suggests families are financially constricted and concerned about the near-term economic outlook, there is “firming optimism around prospects for finances in the year ahead.” 

Further, the release found that respondents are “confident that they can see eventual better times ahead whereas in the early 1990s there was a pervasive mood of despair for years.” 

ASX 200 and improved consumer sentiment 

Importantly for ASX 200 stocks reliant on discretionary spending, the Westpac release indicated that the largest gains were around views on the economic outlook and “time to buy a major item”. 

The ‘time to buy a major item’ sub-index posted a  strong 10.1% gain in June, on the back of a 26.7% May increase. 

That said, the buyer sentiment is still well below the long-run average. 

Consumer expectations for house prices

Evans reported that consumer expectations for house prices improved. The Westpac-Melbourne Institute House Price Expectations Index rose 10.5%. 

However, the index is still 43% below the cheery readings just before the COVID-19 lockdown. Further, Evans reported that survey results continue to “point to a sharp deterioration… compared to a few months ago.”

Finally, the proportion favouring real estate as the answer to ‘wisest place for savings’ dropped to 4% in March. Evans stated that this suggests “investors look likely to stay away from Australia’s housing market near term.” 

ASX 200 analysis

Evans concluded the release by noting that “unusually, more respondents nominated shares (11.4%) than real estate as preferred investment options.”

Can the currently reported investment preference for shares over real estate, coupled with improved consumer sentiment lift the ASX 200? Will the improved sentiment percolate across the economy? 

The sentiment can certainly impact the discretionary spending sector, at least in the near-term. 

For instance, the S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Discretionary (ASX: XDJ) is up 7% from this time last month. It’s also up 4% from this time 3 months ago. 

Additionally, Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) — a stock that certainly benefits from improved consumer sentiment — is up 12.4% from this time last month. JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH) is also enjoying gains — up 11.3% from last month. 

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Motley Fool contributor Kiryll Prakapenka has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of Wesfarmers Limited. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. 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 Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) share price has rebounded off its lows but is still trading notably lower on Friday.

At the time of writing the payments company’s shares are down over 7.5% to $6.03. This is despite the release of another positive announcement this morning.

What did Zip announce?

This morning Zip released an update which revealed that its strong performance continued during the month of May.

In May, Zip recorded monthly transaction volume of $189.3 million and revenue of $15.6 million. This was a 63% and 78% increase, respectively, over the same period last year.

And while this growth is a touch slower than in April, when transaction volume lifted 86% and revenue rose 81% growth, it is still a very impressive rate of growth in such a challenging economic environment.

Zip added 65,000 new customers during the month, lifting its total to 2.1 million. This represents a total increase of 63% since this time last year.

Also growing strongly was its merchant numbers. They are up 46% year on year to 23,600.

Net bad debts low but rising.

At the end of May, Zip’s net bad debts stood at 2.16%. This compares to 1.99% at the end of April.

Management notes that this is in-line with expectations and significantly outperforming the market average.

Positively, monthly arrears, which is a forward indicator of future losses, reduced from 1.57% in April to 1.47% in May. In addition to this, there was no material change to the number of hardship assistance requests.

Zip’s Managing Director and CEO, Larry Diamond, commented: “May was another strong month for Zip – the performance of the business, both in terms of the continued strong transaction volume, and in particular the outstanding repayment performance, demonstrates the resilience of the Zip business model.”

The chief executive notes that the company is benefiting from the shift away from cash to digital, contactless payments, and ecommerce. Pleasingly, he expects this trend to continue in the future even after the pandemic ends.

Mr Diamond explained: “We also anticipate ecommerce penetration to remain at elevated levels post COVID-19 as consumers gain familiarity shopping online, and retailers invest significantly in this space.”

The chief executive also revealed that Zip is on course to achieve its guidance in FY 2020. “We remain on track to hit our FY20 target of $2.2b in annualised transaction volume set at the beginning of the year,” he concluded.

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• 3 ASX shares to buy now with $10,000

James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. 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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