The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) hit a new record again today. It ended 0.5% higher to 7,629 points.

Here are some of the highlights from the ASX:

Baby Bunting Group Ltd (ASX: BBN)

The Baby Bunting share price dropped 4.5% today after the retailer released its FY21 result to the market.

Baby Bunting reported that total sales increased by 15.6% to $468.4 million. Comparable store sales grew 11.3% and online sales went up 54.2%. Digital sales accounted for 19.4% of total sales.

The business revealed even faster profit growth. Pro forma earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 29.2% to $43.5 million and pro forma net profit after tax increased by 34.8% to $26 million. Statutory profit rose by 76% to $17.5 million.

After this profit growth, the company decided to increase the full year dividend by 34.1% to 14.1 cents. This included a final dividend declared of 8.3 cents per share.

The Baby Bunting CEO Matt Spencer said:

While the new financial year has started with some disruptions from ongoing lockdowns, our experience has been that any short-term sales impact is recovered quickly once lockdowns have eased. While FY22 may have more surprises, our operating strength in our category and transformation plans should see us well placed in the period ahead.

The company said that comparable store sales as at 12 August 2021 were down 6.4% in the year to date.

But it expects to open another three new stores in the first half of FY22.

Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX: PBH)

The Pointsbet share price went up over 2% after announcing another expansion in the USA.

It announced that its West Virginia business has received regulatory approval from the West Virginia Lottery Commission and has launched online sports betting operations in West Virginia.

West Virginia marks the seventh operational state for Pointsbet’s sports betting product, after the successful launches in New Jersey, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Colorado and Michigan. It also currently operates in iGaming in New Jersey and Michigan.

The CEO of Pointsbet USA, Johnny Aitken, said:

Launching in West Virginia represents further progress for Pointsbet and presents another tremendous opportunity we are excited to attack.

As always, Pointsbet will provide this passionate, sports-loving community with a fast and reliable online sports betting product across every customer touchpoint. We are thrilled to now introduce West Virginian sports bettors to the competitive advantages Pointsbet possesses in owning our technology end-to-end, such as our speed and ease of use as well as a deep slate of betting options for every NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, WNBA, and PGA TOUR contest.

The company also plans to launch its online casino product in West Virginia by the end of the 2021 calendar year.

Air New Zealand Limited (ASX: AIZ)

The company announced today it was going to defer its capital raising. The Air New Zealand share price rose 1%. 

A few months ago, Air New Zealand announced its intention to complete a capital raising, with components of both debt and equity before 30 September 2021.

The airline pointed out that the government provided its plan to reconnect New Zealanders to the world in relation with COVID-19. This included update vaccination rollout plans, a phased approach to reopening borders and, from the first quarter of the 2022 calendar year, a phased introduction of an individual risk-based approach to border settings that will establish various pathways of entry into the country.

Air New Zealand has received a letter from the Minister of Finance outlining his view that that the current environment is not sufficiently certain and stable to enable the ‘Crown’ to provide a firm pre-commitment to support the planned equity raise at this time.

The airline has decided to defer its planned capital raising until the first available window in the first quarter of the 2022 calendar year.

However, Air New Zealand said the ‘Crown’ did say that it was committed to maintaining a majority shareholding of the company and would take part in the capital raising to maintain its majority shareholding, if the Cabinet were satisfied with the terms of the raising.

The company and the Minister of Finance have agreed that the step up of interest rates will no longer apply with the ‘Crown’ standby facility available through to September 2023.

The post ASX 200 up, Baby Bunting drops, Pointsbet rises appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today
• Here are the 3 most active ASX 200 shares this Friday
• Why AGL, PointsBet, Premier Investments, & Star shares are charging higher
• Why ASX 200 gold shares are deep in the red this year
• ASX 200 midday update: Telstra 52-week high, PointsBet rises on US update

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. owns shares of and has recommended Pointsbet Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Pointsbet Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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If you’re wanting to boost your portfolio with a couple of growth shares, then you may want to consider the ones listed below.

Here’s why these ASX growth shares have been rated as buys:

Breville Group Ltd (ASX: BRG)

The first ASX growth share to look at is Breville. Founded in Sydney in 1932, Breville has grown to become one of the world’s leading appliance manufacturers.

The good news is that its growth shows no signs of stopping. This is thanks to its international expansion, R&D investment, and favourable tailwinds. The latter includes the work from home trend, which is underpinning strong demand for cooking equipment and coffee machines.

During the first half of FY 2021, Breville reported a 28.8% increase in revenue to $711 million and a 29.2% increase in net profit after tax to $64.2 million. Positively, more of the same is expected in the second half. Management is guiding to earnings before interest and tax of $136 million. This will be a 20% increase year on year.

Analysts at UBS believe its growth can continue for some time to come. As a result, the broker has a buy rating and $35.70 price target on its shares.

Xero Limited (ASX: XRO)

Another ASX growth share to consider is Xero. It is a leading provider of a cloud-based business and accounting solution to small and medium sized businesses globally.

Over the last few years, Xero has been growing at a consistently strong rate. This has been driven by the shift to the cloud, its international expansion, and acquisitions. The latter includes the $284.6 million acquisition of workforce management platform, Planday, earlier this year.

These acquisitions are expected to support the monetisation of its app ecosystem. This is something which Goldman Sachs is particularly positive on. It believes Xero could have a multi-decade runway for strong growth if management can successfully monetise it.

Goldman is very bullish on its future. As such, it has a buy rating and $165.00 price target on its shares.

The post 2 ASX growth shares brokers love appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why the Xero (ASX:XRO) share price has climbed 5% in a month
• ASX tech shares lagging the ASX 200 on Thursday
• Xero (ASX:XRO) share price edges lower after annual meeting
• 2 excellent ASX growth shares rated as buys
• 3 excellent ASX tech shares

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. owns shares of and has recommended Xero. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Xero. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Today, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) ascended to yet another new record high to finish the week. The benchmark index gained 0.54% to 7,628.9 points.

The question is: which shares delivered the most generously to investors on the ASX today? Here are the ten stocks that rose to the occasion:

Top 10 ASX shares countdown today

Looking at the top 200 listed companies, Downer EDI Limited (ASX: DOW) was the biggest gainer today. Shares in the company increased 5.2% following its positive FY21 results yesterday. Find out more about Downer here.

The next biggest gaining ASX share today was Premier Investments Limited (ASX: PMV). The speciality retailer’s shares climbed 4.94% to $28.49 after a bullish broker note from UBS this morning. Uncover the latest Premier Investments details here.

Today’s top 10 biggest gains were made in these ASX shares:

ASX-listed company	Share price	Price change
Downer EDI Limited (ASX: DOW)	$6.07	5.20%
Premier Investments Limited (ASX: PMV)	$28.49	4.94%
Star Entertainment Group Ltd (ASX: SGR)	$3.51	4.78%
AGL Energy Limited (ASX: AGL)	$7.47	4.04%
QUBE Holdings Ltd (ASX: QUB)	$3.07	3.72%
AMP Ltd (ASX: AMP)	$1.155	3.59%
Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE)	$12.25	3.38%
Wisetech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC)	$35.03	3.18%
Origin Energy Ltd (ASX: ORG)	$4.45	2.77%
Skycity Entertainment Group Limited (ASX: SKC)	$3.07	2.68%

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

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

More reading

• Here are the 3 most active ASX 200 shares this Friday
• Which ASX shares are the biggest movers on the ASX 300 today?
• Why AGL, PointsBet, Premier Investments, & Star shares are charging higher
• Why ASX 200 gold shares are deep in the red this year
• ASX 200 midday update: Telstra 52-week high, PointsBet rises on US update

Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended WiseTech Global. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Premier Investments Limited, Treasury Wine Estates Limited, and WiseTech Global. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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It was hard to miss — and the body’s chief let us have it with both barrels.

It, of course, was the latest report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and the quote heard around the world was that the report was ‘code red for humanity’, according to UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

And right now, some of my readers are yelling “fake news” while others are saying “Well, der.. It’s not as if we didn’t know we’re careening toward catastrophic climate change”.

The rest of us are somewhere in between.

Now, for the sake of it, let me nail my personal colours to the mast: the science is unequivocal, and we owe it to our kids and grandkids to do something about Climate Change. In the dramatically unlikely event the whole thing is a hoax, in the words of the famous cartoon, “What it it’s a big hoax and we create a better world for nothing”…

But I’m not here to beat that drum.

Plenty of people can make the case far more eloquently and authoritatively than I.

And anyway, I’m an investor, not a climate scientist.

Not that such a disclaimer lets us off the hook, of course.

As the famous ice hockey player Wayne Gretzky said, he was good because he would “…skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.”

And that’s the challenge confronting investors, when it comes to Climate Change.

Let’s say it’s real.

The world will get warmer, agriculture will be impacted, sea levels will rise, and governments will make rules and regulations (both here, and overseas, where imports will likely attract tariffs approximating local carbon taxes), and some assets will end up ‘stranded’, with businesses not allowed to extract them, or increasingly having trouble finding markets.

Let’s say it’s a clever hoax.

Then it depends on your view. If the planet is warming, but we’re not to blame, the world still gets warmer, agriculture is impacted, sea levels will rise and so on.

If it’s not warming, then none of the environmental impacts will come to pass… but governments will still pass new rules and regulations anyway, because, with a few notable exceptions, they believe the scientists.

I hope you can see the picture I’m painting here.

The world is probably changing.

And even if it’s not, governments are changing the conditions under which our companies operate.

In other words, it doesn’t matter what you and I think should happen.

Only what is happening — and is likely to happen.

To revert to Gretzky’s example, it will impact where the ‘puck’ is going to be.

And again, remember that the truth or otherwise of Climate Change isn’t the important thing, here.

At least not when it comes to your portfolio.

It’s what governments (and increasingly consumers and investors) do in response to the threat they perceive.

I can say it’s real.

You can say it’s fake.

And then we both look over to the regulatory and market forces, who — completely unaware of our argument — decide what rules to put in place, what products to buy, and what happens to the reputations of the businesses involved.

And, as investors, that’s the only thing that matters.

We need to see the future as it is likely to be, not as we wish it was.

And sometimes that’s not easy.

Here’s an example: I’m on record as saying I don’t think so-called ‘ethical investing’ is a dial mover, in terms of its impact on changing the behaviour or decisions of companies.

(I do think consumers can have an extraordinary impact, by the way.)

And yet, I own shares in fund manager Australian Ethical Investment Limited (ASX: AEF).

Why?

Because I think, despite my scepticism, people will throw more and more money into ‘ethical’ investment options. And I think Australian Ethical will benefit, as a result.

That’s the world as it’s likely to be, not as I wish it would be.

In a similar vein, colour me sceptical on the proven health benefits of milk with only the A2 protein. Yet I own shares in A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M). Why? Because people swear they feel better. Placebo effect or not, I think A2 Milk will sell more milk in the coming years than they do today.

I trust I’ve made my point.

We can waste a lot of time (and potentially forgo a lot of profit) waiting for the world to see things ‘our way’, instead of seeing things the way they are.

Resources investors should, I think, at least imagine a world in which some coal is left in the ground, taxes are placed on fossil fuels, and the world continues to electrify.

You’re entitled to reject those predictions, of course, but just make sure it’s a cool-headed analysis, rather than wishful thinking (in either direction).

Fool on!

The post Is your portfolio ready for Climate Change? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• When was the worst ever day for the A2 Milk (ASX:A2M) share price?
• a2 Milk (ASX:A2M) share price rises on bullish broker note
• Here’s why the A2 Milk (ASX:A2M) share price is down 18% in a month
• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell next week

Motley Fool contributor Scott Phillips owns shares of A2 Milk and Australian Ethical Investment Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Australian Ethical Investment Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended A2 Milk and Australian Ethical Investment Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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If you’re looking to add some blue chip ASX 200 dividend shares to your portfolio, then the two listed below might be ones to consider.

Here’s what you need to know about them:

Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL)

The first blue chip ASX 200 dividend share to consider buying is Coles. It is of course one of the big two supermarket operators. In addition to its 800+ supermarkets, the company has a network of over 900 liquor retail stores and over 700 Coles express stores.

Coles has been growing at a solid rate for decades and shows no signs of stopping any time soon. Particularly given its Refresh Strategy, which is aiming to leverage technology to cut costs and boost its online sales.

Part of this strategy has seen the company invest almost $1 billion in a couple of fully automated distribution centres. These centres will be the key to supply chain optimisation and are expected to be operational in 2023.

In the meantime, Goldman Sachs believes the company is well-placed to grow both its earnings and dividends. In respect to the latter, the broker has pencilled in dividends per share of 62 cents in FY 2021, 67 cents in FY 2022, and 73 cents in FY 2023.

Based on the latest Coles share price of $18.40, this will mean fully franked yields of 3.35%, 3.6%, and 4%, respectively.

Goldman has a buy rating and $19.40 price target on its shares.

Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC)

Another blue chip ASX 200 dividend share to consider is banking giant Westpac.

Australia’s oldest bank could be a top option for income investors due to its improved performance and its increasing positive outlook. The latter is being underpinned by favourable trading conditions and its very strong capital position.

Goldman Sachs is also a fan of Westpac. It currently has a buy rating and $29.03 price target on its shares.

Over the next three financial years, its analysts are forecasting fully franked dividends per share of $1.16, $1.23, and $1.32, respectively.

Based on the latest Westpac share price of $26.16, this will mean yields of 4.4%, 4.7%, and 5%.

The post 2 blue chip ASX 200 dividend shares named as buys appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• It’s been a good month so far for the Westpac (ASX:WBC) share price
• 2 buy-rated ASX dividend shares with very attractive yields
• Should you buy Coles (ASX:COL) shares in August for the dividend yield?
• Westpac (ASX:WBC) share price lags the big banks’ after NZ ‘formal warning’
• Is now a good time to buy Bendigo and Adelaide Bank (ASX:BEN) shares?

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro owns shares of 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 owns shares of and has recommended COLESGROUP DEF SET. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Another day comes to its end on the ASX and a quiet one at that. Analysts and investors might have been left twiddling their thumbs after Baby Bunting reported today, with not too much in the way of ASX reporting after that.

We’ll quickly unpack today’s results and then wrap it back up for next week:

Those that delivered today

Baby Bunting Ltd (ASX: BBN)

Shares in the baby products retailer fell 4.52% to $5.71 on Friday. This followed the reporting of the company’s FY21 results on the ASX. It appears investors were put off by Baby Bunting’s start to the new financial year. Comparable store sales as of 12 August were down 6.4% financial year-to-date.

The takeaway points:

• Total sales up 15.6% to $468.4 million
• Comparable store sales growth of 11.3%
• Online sales up 54.2% and now represent 19.2% of total sales
• Pro forma earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) up 29.2% to $43.5 million
• Pro forma net profit after tax increased 34.8% to $26 million
• Fully franked final dividend of 8.3 cents per share (full year dividend up 34.1% to 14.1 cents)
• FY 2022 same stores sales down 6.4% as of 12 August

ASX shares reporting next week

If you thought this week had a lot to take in from ASX shares reporting, next week is set to take it to another level. Instead of dumping 30 or so shares in this article, I’ll mention some of the big names here and you can check out the rest on our ASX Reporting Season Calendar.

Next week will include reporting from Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Ltd (ASX: BEN), BlueScope Steel Limited (ASX: BSL), JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH), BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG), and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC)… and that only gets us to Wednesday.

Rest up over the weekend, next week will be a big one on the ASX!

The post The ASX reporting wrap-up: Baby Bunting, the week ahead appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why Baby Bunting, Galan Lithium, Suncorp, & Vulcan shares are sinking
• Baby Bunting (ASX:BBN) share price crashes 10% on FY 2021 results
• 2 top ASX growth shares that might be worth buying

Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler 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 recommended Baby Bunting. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) started the week strongly before slipping into reverse yesterday and today.

Monday saw CBA shares close up 1.2%, Tuesday they gained 1.5%, and Wednesday saw another 1.5% lift.

Thursday things headed the other direction, with CBA shares slipping 2.1% by the closing bell. And in late afternoon trading today, CommBank is down 1.9%, at $104.05 per share.

What moved CBA shares this week?

CommBank headed higher in the first 3 days of the week, likely in anticipation of the company’s full year results for the 2021 financial year.

Those results were delivered on Wednesday morning, saw CBA shares notch up a 3rd day of gains for the week.

Among the highlights of its FY21 results, CommBank reported a 19.7% increase in net profits after taxes. NPAT came in at $8.84 billion.

Cash earnings of $8.65 billion were up 19.8% year-on-year, beating analyst consensus estimates.

The $2 dividend the bank declared brings its full year dividend to $3.50, up 17% over the prior year. At the current share price that works out to a trailing dividend yield of 3.37%, fully franked.

But perhaps the biggest announcement for CBA shares was the $6 billion off-market share buy-back. According to the bank, that should see its total amount of outstanding shares cut by roughly 3.5%.

CommBank also made headline news this week when it was reported that its group governance executive general manager, Kara Nicholls, is suing the bank. Nicholls alleges CommBank is dismissing her after she raised concerns about an overworked and understaffed governance team.

Brokers’ views on the outlook for CommBank from here remain mixed.

As the Motley Fool reported on Thursday, both Citi and Credit Suisse downgraded their outlook for CBA shares, while Bell Potter remained positive.

How has CommBank been performing?

CBA shares are up 43% over the past 12 months, compared to a gain of 25% for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).

Year-to-date CBA shares have continued to outpace the benchmark, up 24% in 2021.

The post What’s moving CBA (ASX:CBA) shares this week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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• Why CBA (ASX:CBA) is backing the RBA in push for payment reforms
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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 Bruce Jackson.

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ASX shares with exposure to online shopping and e-commerce were hot property back in the tail end of 2020. However, as the promise of a national vaccination rollout arose and restrictions eased, such investments fell out of favour.

One such company is Redbubble Ltd (ASX: RBL), its share price falling 56% from its peak of $7.35 in January to $3.19 on Friday.

Redbubble’s online marketplace sells face masks bearing creative designs from artists. So, leading up to the company’s full-year results, the question is, has the company experienced a revenue boost from the recent Delta wave?

Looking at the past

Around the same time last year, Redbubble delivered its FY20 results. On that day the Redbubble share price hit a record as investors digested the significant growth in the company’s revenue.

According to the release, Redbubble’s marketplace revenue was $49 million in July 2020. This represented an incredible 132% increase on the prior corresponding period. It was revealed by management that roughly $26 million of the company’s July revenue was derived from face mask sales.

Since then, the company has continued to grow revenue. However, it has been less telling with its exact face mask revenue. Potentially this was a strategic decision, so the business didn’t become just another ‘COVID stock’.

Taking a quick look at google trends, it is evident people are searching ‘face masks’ a lot more than they were between March and June. Likewise, Redbubble’s website traffic picked up by 8.4% to 30.14 million views in July compared to 27.8 million in June (Similarweb).

Although, conclusions shouldn’t be drawn purely on a correlation. Investors will need to sit tight until Thursday next week to find out whether the company has benefitted.

Redbubble share price snapshot

The Redbubble share price hasn’t been kind to shareholders in 2021. On a year-to-date basis, the marketplace provider’s shares are down 46%. Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is up 14%.

Finally, the company is trading on a trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 27.7 times. This has reduced during the year as the Redbubble share price fell.

The post Could this online ASX share be benefitting from Delta? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler 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 Bruce Jackson.

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The Vital Metals Limited (ASX: VML) share price has soared into the green during today’s session, extending its lengthy bull run.

At the market close, Vital Metals shares were exchanging hands at 7.4 cents apiece, an 12% gain from the open this morning.

Let’s zoom in on the tailwinds behind the Vital Metals share price over the past week.

Quick recap on Vital Metals

Vital Metals is a minerals explorer with a focus on rare earths and gold prospects.

It has a geographical footprint in Australia, Canada and Burkina Faso in West Africa, although derives most of its revenue from Australia.

At the time of writing, Vital Metals has a market capitalisation of $307 million.

What’s behind the Vital Metals share price this week

The Vital Metals share price has been a busy mover over the past week, climbing 37% into the green since last Friday’s closing price.

On 9 August, the company announced its plans to expand into the US capital markets.

Vital advised it had engaged Ecoban Securities Corporation as investor relations and capital markets consultant.

As part of the planned listing, the company will issue 10 million three-year listed options to Ecoban’s listing arm, Tectonic. Vital will deal with Tectonic directly under the agreement.

Recall that Tectonic also advised Vital Metals with a $42 million equity raise earlier in the year.

In addition, the rare earths miner placed its securities into a trading halt on 10 August. A day later, the company announced it would acquire Qubec Precious Metal Corporation’s 68% interest in (the) Kipawa and 100% interest of (the) Zues heavy rare earth projects in Canada.

The transaction will occur for $8.7 million over the coming 5 years.

In its release, Vital Metals said the Kipawa and Zues sites complemented its light rare earths operations at Nechalocho, another of the company’s rare earths sites in Canada.

In addition, the acquisition had “the potential to transform Vital into the only producer of both light and heavy rare earths in North America”, according to the company.

Vital Metals share price snapshot

The Vital Metals share price has climbed 131% year to date, extending the previous 12 month’s return of 311%.

These results have outpaced the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO)’s gain of around 25% over the past year.

The post Why the Vital Metals (ASX:VML) share price is up 37% in a week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why is the Vital Metals (ASX:VML) share price is in a trading halt today?
• Here’s why the Vital Metals (ASX:VML) share price is flying today
• Vital Metals (ASX:VML) share price leaps 6% on production update
• Here’s why the Vital Metals (ASX:VML) share price is flying higher today

The author Zach Bristow has no positions 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 Bruce Jackson.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has finished the week on a positive note. At close of trading today, the ASX 200 finished up a healthy 0.54% to 7,628 points.

But let’s go a little further and see which ASX 200 shares were the most active today in terms of raw trading volume.

The 3 most active ASX 200 shares today

Telstra Corpoation Ltd (ASX: TLS)

Telstra has been lying around the ASX 200 boards all week, and today it seems is no different. A hefty 24.01 million Telstra shares changed owners today. That’s probably a result of what we are seeing with the Telstra share price itself. This ASX telco has has a bit of a wild day.

It spent the morning rising strongly to a new 52-week high of $4.02 a share, before giving up all of those gains and then some. At the final bell, Telstra was down 0.25% to $3.96 a share. It’s this volatility that’s probably behind the elevated trading volumes we are seeing today.

Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)

ASX 200 lithium producer Pilbara is next on the list. Like Telstra, Pilbara has also been flying around the ASX share market this week. This Friday, a very substantial 27.52 million shares were traded.

Pilbara has also had an interesting day in terms of share price movements. Just before lunchtime, this company was down more than 5% to $2.26 a share.

However, Pilbara staged something of a recovery, and finished at $2.33 a share, still down 2.1% for the day. Again, it’s probably this share price volatility that is behind the large numbers of Pilbara shares trading today.

Scentre Group (ASX: SCG)

Our final ASX share today is Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) Scentre Group. A whopping 51.08 million Scentre units have swapped hands this Friday, making it the most traded ASX 200 company of the day.

Despite this move, there has been no major news or events affecting the Scentre unit price today. Scentre finished the day down 2.29% to $2.56 a unit after going as high as $2.58 earlier in the day.

A non-ASX 200 footnote

While Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA) is not an ASX 200 share, it deserves a shoutout today for the mind-boggling 219.31 million shares that have traded on the share market today.

The post Here are the 3 most active ASX 200 shares this Friday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• If you’d bought $1,000 of Pilbara Minerals shares 5 years ago, here’s what it would be worth
• Brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• Why ASX 200 gold shares are deep in the red this year
• ASX 200 midday update: Telstra 52-week high, PointsBet rises on US update
• Telstra (ASX:TLS) share of Digicel acquisition must be a minority — CEO

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen owns shares of Telstra Corporation Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Telstra Corporation Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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