The share price of ASX junior mining company Neometals Ltd (ASX:NMT) has been on an absolute tear so far in 2021. After starting the year valued under 30 cents, shares in Neometals have surged close to 100% higher, and are now trading at $0.58. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons why investors might be getting excited about Neometals.

Company background

After starting out life as more of a pureplay lithium miner, Neometals has used its industry expertise to transform itself into a diversified materials company. It now operates projects at various stages in the minerals value chain, from exploration through to production and refinement. The company’s aim is to create sustainable, low-risk, long-term projects centred around innovations in energy storage and electronic vehicles.

Neometals now has three core, wholly-owned projects: a lithium-ion battery recycling plant, a lithium refinery project, and a titanium and vanadium project in Barrambie, Western Australia. In addition, Neometals also owns a long-term lithium and nickel exploration project called Mt Edwards, also located in WA. And it is pursuing other research and development initiatives, mostly focused on lithium production and refinement.

Demerger news

Neometals has released a flurry of announcements recently – mostly concerned with its Mt Edwards exploration project.

At the beginning of July, Neometals announced its intention to demerge its Mt Edwards nickel assets. This came shortly after Neometals reported significant estimation upgrades across multiple of its nickel resources at Mt Edwards.

The spinoff would create a new standalone company called Widgie Nickel Limited – named for the Widgiemooltha township in WA where the Mt Edwards project is located – which would then also seek to be listed on the ASX. Under the plan, existing Neometals shareholders would be offered free shares in the new entity and would then have the option to participate in a subsequent capital raise.  

Speaking at the time of the announcement, Neometals’ Managing Director, Chris Reed, stated that the demerger plan offered “shareholders the opportunity to realise the inherent long-term value of this exciting development story in a discrete, nickel focussed corporate vehicle.”

Other recent news

Another notable development – announced at the beginning of June – was the sale of Neometals’ offtake rights for lithium spodumene concentrate produced by the Mt Marion Lithium Project. Neometals agreed to sell the rights back to Reed Industrial Minerals, the company that currently owns the Mt Marion Project, for $30 million. The cash injection meant that the value of Neometals’ cash, receivables and investments increased beyond $100 million.  

How has the Neometals share price responded?

The Neometals share price has jumped almost 20% higher since the beginning of July and is now within touching distance of the 52-week high price of $0.59 it reached in early May. However, despite the gains already made so far this year, continuing developments at the company’s Mt Edwards Project still make the Neometals share price one to watch over the next few months.

The post The Neometals (ASX:NMT) share price has almost doubled in 2021 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Neometals (ASX:NMT) share price slips 8% following project review
• Why the Neometals (ASX:NMT) share price is up 7% today
• Why the Neometals (ASX:NMT) share price is moving higher

Motley Fool contributor Rhys Brock owns shares of Neometals Ltd. 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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Some ASX 200 real estate companies have been struggling through recent COVID-19 restrictions and lockdowns, and this is being reflected in their share prices.

The S&P/ASX 200 Real Estate Index (ASX: XRE) has fallen 1.45% over the last 30 days. However, real estate shares focused on commercial and retail space have seen share price drops of around 8%.

Restrictions faced by numerous parts of Australia over the past month have likely spurred the ASX 200 real estate giants’ falls. Let’s take a look.

30 days of lockdowns

Most of Australia’s states and territories have faced restrictions or lockdowns over the past month, and it’s weighing on some ASX 200 real estate shares.

Right now, the New South Wales Government is doubling down on COVID-19 restrictions in Sydney. The city and surrounding regions have been in a soft lockdown for the past 3 weeks in an attempt to curb the spread of the delta variant.

From today, non-essential retail and construction in greater Sydney have been halted. Residents of some suburbs have also been banned from leaving their immediate area for work.

Meanwhile, Melbourne has been in lockdown since Thursday after removalists from Sydney spurred an outbreak of the delta variant in the city.

And it’s not just the lockdown of Australia’s biggest cities putting pressure on some ASX 200 real estate shares.

Much of Queensland, Darwin, Alice Springs, and Perth have each entered and exited lockdowns in the last month.

The ASX 200 real estate shares hit hard

The Vicinity Centres (ASX: VCX) share price has dropped 8.46% over the past month, sitting at $1.52 at the time of writing. The ASX 200 company is a real estate investment trust (REIT). It primarily focuses on owning and managing Australian shopping centres.

Fellow ASX 200 REIT Scentre Group (ASX: SCG) has seen its share price fall 8.39% to currently trade at $2.62. Scentre is the owner and operator of Westfield shopping centres.

Finally, the Stockland Corporation Ltd (ASX: SGP) share price has plunged 7.38% since this time last month. Shares in the company are now going for $4.39. The ASX 200 company derives the majority of its income from commercial property, most of which is retail property.

The post ASX 200 real estate shares sink 8% in a month as lockdown woes persist appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• 2 buy-rated ASX dividend shares with generous yields

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 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 Stockland Corp Ltd (ASX: SGP) share price could be a mover on Monday after the company announced an acquisition to expand its land lease communities business.

What might drive the Stockland share price today

Stockland’s retirement living portfolio might receive a boost after entering a binding agreement to acquire Queensland based Halcyon Group’s land lease communities business.

Many retirement and over-50s communities operate under land lease structures where people own their own homes but not the land they are built on.

The acquisition will include 3,800 sites across 13 land lease communities, six of which are established land lease communities with four in development and three projects in planning.

The Halcyon acquisition will bring onboard over 2,500 new customers in addition to a Halcyon team of more than 100 people.

Stockland will be forking out $620 million plus transaction costs for the acquisition.

According to the announcement, 100% of the acquisition price and associated costs will be funded from existing liquidity.

In addition, the acquisition price will be paid in two equal tranches. The first $310 million will be paid upon completion of the transaction in mid-August 2021. While the second tranche will be deferred until July 2022.

What did management say?

Stockland Managing Director and CEO Tarun Gupta commented:

This acquisition is in line with our stated strategy to grow our land lease communities and will increase the size of our portfolio to 7,800 sites. Land lease communities deliver attractive returns as the demand for high quality, affordable housing solutions grows. This demand is driven by Australia’s aging population and baby boomers reaching retirement age.

About the Stockland share price

The Stockland share price has been a slow mover in 2021, nudging just 2.57% higher year-to-date compared to the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) which has rallied 9.93%.

On a more positive note, on 23 June, Stockland announced a lift in final dividend to 13.3 cents compared to 10.6 cents in 2020.

With a FY21 full-year distribution of 24.6 cents, this represents a dividend yield of approximately 5.6% at current prices.

The post Stockland (ASX:SGP) share price on watch after acquisition appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why Alkane, Carsales, Platinum, & Stockland shares are tumbling lower
• The Stockland (ASX:SGP) share price hit a new 52-week high today
• Stockland (ASX:SGP) unveils biggest dividend in 2 years

Motley Fool contributor Kerry Sun 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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Audinate Group Ltd (ASX: AD8) shares have jumped almost 25% higher over the last month (to $10.03, as at the time of writing). This recent increase puts the performance of the Audinate share price firmly in the green so far this year, up a little over 20% in total.

And, just to cap it all off, Audinate shares even set a new all-time high price of $10.29 last week.

Let’s take a look at what the ASX audio technology company has been up to lately.

Company background

Audinate develops technology to simplify complex digital audio connection networks. The company is focused on the professional audiovisual (AV) industry, providing digital sound technology to support radio stations, recording studios, and even professional sports stadiums.

Audinate’s flagship product is called Dante. It is designed to replace all the various connections used by legacy audio networks – like all the heavy cords used to connect microphones, amplifiers and speakers – with a computer network that sends out AV data over lightweight ethernet cables.

By digitising traditionally analogue audio connections, Dante creates a simple to set up and easily scalable AV solution for industry professionals.

What has got the Audinate share price racing higher?

The Audinate share price was among those hardest hit by COVID-19 lockdowns last year. With the live music industry effectively on indefinite hiatus and many international sports leagues either cancelled or postponed, it was assumed that demand for Dante would dry up. The Audinate share price went into freefall, tumbling as low as $3.13 by March 2020.

Then, as expected, in April 2020 Audinate withdraw its FY20 growth commentary in response to the escalating COVID-19 crisis. The company stated that “government decisions have the potential to delay projects and reduce the near-term demand for Audinate’s technology.”

In the end, FY20 revenue increased by 7% year on year, to $30.3 million, although the uplift was almost entirely due to favourable movements in foreign exchange rates. Audinate invoices its customers in US dollars, and in USD-terms, revenues only increased marginally year on year, from US$20.3 million to US$20.4 million. The Audinate share price fell by around 7% on the day of the update.

However, things slowly began turning around from there. In a trading update provided last October, Audinate stated that sales momentum had been recovering, with revenues increasing each month throughout the first quarter of FY21.

Then, in its first-half FY21 results, Audinate reported that revenues had returned to their pre-COVID levels. The company brought in US$11.1 million in revenues over the first half of FY21, the exact same amount it generated in the first half of FY20, and a 19% increase over the US$9.3 million it reported for the second half of FY20.

But the real cherry on top of Audinate’s recovery came just last week when the company reported that unaudited revenues for FY21 had come in at US$25 million, a year-on-year increase of 23%. Commenting on the update, Audinate co-founder and CEO Aidan Williams said Audinate was “well placed to return to US$ revenue growth in the historical range and consistent with current market expectations for FY22.”

Investors responded positively to the company’s recovery story, with the Audinate share price climbing almost 8% higher on the day of the announcement. With its fortunes so closely tied to a post-COVID economic and social recovery, Audinate will be a fascinating company to watch over the next few months.

The post Here’s why the Audinate (ASX:AD8) share price is up 25% in a month appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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• Audinate share price (ASX:AD8) rockets to new all-time high
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• Why Althea, Audinate, Perenti, & Viva Energy shares are pushing higher

Motley Fool contributor Rhys Brock owns shares of AUDINATEGL FPO. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended AUDINATEGL FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended AUDINATEGL FPO. 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 energy shares will be on watch today on news that OPEC+ has stuck a deal to return oil production to pre-COVID-19 levels.

Oil prices dipped on the news as traders are anticipating extra supply to hit the market from next month. The Brent benchmark slipped 0.4% in early trade to add to the 2.6% drop from last week, reported Bloomberg.

Weaker oil prices to weigh on ASX energy shares

The development will add to jitters for oil-exposed ASX share prices as futures pricing points to a 0.5% fall in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index:^AXJO) following negative leads from Wall Street.

Some of the sector’s heavyweights include the Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) share price, Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) share price, Oil Search Ltd (ASX: OSH) share price and Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) share price.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have finally overcome differences to reach a new deal on the weekend.

Oil supply to lift as OPEC+ strikes new deal

This paves the way for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia (called OPEC+) to pump an extra 400,000 barrels of oil a day from August until output from the bloc hits pre-pandemic levels.

OPEC+ is currently withholding 5.8 million barrels a day to support the oil price during the COVID-induced global recession.

The group recently failed to reach a new deal to extend the production curbs after UAE refused to sign up.

The news sent the oil price surging higher as OPEC+ will not be able to lift supply unless all members agree to the new terms.

UAE returns to the OPEC fold

To get the UAE to play ball, OPEC’s de facto leader Saudi Arabia agreed to allow the UAE to increase its baseline. The baseline is the benchmark applied to each country by which output cuts are measured.

But the UAE isn’t the only OPEC member to get higher baselines. Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait and Russia also got their baselines lifted.

Experts believe that extra oil supply is needed quickly as demand is recovering with the reopening of the global economy.

ASX energy shares can’t shake worries

But the bright demand outlook is being clouded over by fresh outbreaks of the Delta-variant. The more contagious mutation is threatening the reopening of countries like Australia, Singapore and the UK – just to name a few.

Further, oil traders are nervously eyeing Iran since the easing of sanctions against the oil-producing country. Bloomberg reported that first crude exports from Iran are expected in the coming days.

Hang tight fellow Fools! This week could be a particularly volatile time for ASX energy shares.

The post ASX energy shares in focus as OPEC+ strikes deal to lift oil production appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX shakes off lockdowns to rise higher
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Motley Fool contributor Brendon Lau owns shares of Santos Limited. Connect with me on Twitter @brenlau.

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 CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price has been a poor performer over the last few weeks.

Since this time last month, the biotherapeutics company’s shares are down 9%.

This compares to a 1.5% gain by the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) over the same period.

Why is the CSL share price out of form?

The weakness in the CSL share price over the last 30 days appears to have been driven by a couple of mixed broker notes.

One of those came from the team at Citi on 23 June. Its analysts downgraded CSL shares to a neutral rating from buy on valuation grounds following a period of outperformance. Citi held firm with its $310.00 price target.

A few days later CSL was hit with another broker downgrade. This time it came from the team at Credit Suisse. According to that note, its analysts downgraded CSL’s shares to a neutral rating and cut the price target on them to $310.00.

Credit Suisse made the move on the belief that the market had not taken into account potential margin weakness caused by tough plasma collection conditions. It suspects that the recovery could take longer than expected due to continued pressure on collections, particularly after the US prevented Mexicans from crossing the border to donate.

The broker suspects that the gross margin of its CSL Behring business could fall to 54.1% in FY 2022. This compares to 61.2% in FY 2020.

Is this a buying opportunity?

Given that the CSL share price has now fallen to $277.72, the price targets of both Citi and Credit Suisse offer decent upside of 11.5% over the next 12 months.

In addition, the team at UBS still have a buy rating and $330.00 price target on the company’s shares. This implies potential upside of almost 19% over the next 12 months.

So, while the CSL share price has underperformed over the last 30 days, the next 30 could be more positive. Just as long as its full year results in August don’t contain any nasty surprises.

The post The CSL (ASX:CSL) share price is down 9% in a month, here’s why appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX shakes off lockdowns to rise higher
• CSL (ASX:CSL) share price lower amid reported mRNA vaccine delays
• This fundie is underweight CSL (ASX: CSL) shares. Here’s why.
• Why the CSL (ASX:CSL) share price has trailed the ASX 200 by 23% in the last year
• Are the 10 highest paid ASX 200 CEOs worth their paypackets?

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 CSL Ltd. 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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Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) shares are a pretty amazing testament to the power of buy-and-hold investing.

According to Google Finance, the stock was US$6.78 in November 2001, just after the dot-com crash. Now, almost 20 years later, it’s trading at US$3,631.20.

That’s a 535-multiple increase.

In other words, if you had bought $10,000 of Amazon shares in November 2001, you would now be sitting on $5.35 million.

As a world-famous online retailer, Amazon is often cited as the classic example of how stocks can make you wealthy.

But did you know there’s an ASX share that’s done even better over that time?

Amazon and REA has very similar beginnings

Coincidentally, REA Group Limited (ASX: REA) was born in the same year as Amazon — in 1995 — as realestate.com.au.

That’s not where the similarities end, according to Montaka Global Investments senior research analyst Amit Nath.

“Just like the great tech tales of Silicon Valley, our Aussie protagonist, REA Group, was started in a garage (1995), IPO’d just before the dotcom bust (1999) and lost 90% of its value shortly thereafter (2001).”

But the difference after that was Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation (ASX: NWS) came to the rescue before REA Group was run completely into the ground.

And it’s ended up as News’ best investment in recent decades. 

“News Corp took 44% of REA Group in exchange for $2 million in cash plus $8 million worth of TV and print advertising — giving REA Group a total equity valuation of $23 million,” Nath wrote on a Montaka blog.

“Fast forward 20 years to today and News Corp owns 61% of REA Group, which has a market capitalisation of $21 billion — or 910 times the valuation Murdoch paid in 2001.”

So there you go. An investment that’s multiplied 910-times over, in the same time that Amazon shares multiplied 500 times.

If you had $10,000 worth of REA shares after the dot-com bust, you’d now be all smiles with $9.1 million.

REA shares still have excellent prospects

Like Amazon, Nath believes REA Group is still a great investment in current times.

Due to its market dominance, Nath believes Australians have no choice but to continue using realestate.com.au.

“It is impossible to function as a real estate agent (or broker) without a subscription to REA Group’s professional tools and access to its property listing portal,” he said.

“As REA Group continues to reduce friction costs of buying, selling, and renting properties for customers, it is likely to capture a larger share of transaction economics over time.”

After all these years, REA Group is still the primary driver for News Corp’s growth.

And the hot residential real estate market at the moment continues to feed into the company’s revenue pipeline.

REA shares closed the week at $162.45. Goldman Sachs elevated its price target to $198 only on Friday.

That’s a 22% upside for a stock that’s trading at a 154.85 price-to-earnings ratio.

Nath said he believes “REA Group will continue to be a wonderful investment over the long term”.

“We believe in owning the long-term winners in attractive markets while they remain undervalued — we firmly believe REA Group comfortably fits within this criteria.”

The post Better than Amazon: This ASX share has multiplied 910 times in 20 years appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Now’s the time to buy up mega-cap tech shares
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• How did the S&P/ASX All Technologies Index (XTX) perform in FY21?

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Motley Fool contributor Tony Yoo owns shares of Amazon. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Amazon. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended the following options: long January 2022 $1,920 calls on Amazon and short January 2022 $1,940 calls on Amazon. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Amazon and REA Group 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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Against all of the odds it seems, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) shook off the prior week’s malaise and recorded a week in the green last week. That’s despite the ongoing COVID-19 crises across the country deepening last week, with Sydney now in lockdown until at least 30 July, and Melbourne entering its own 5-day snap shutdown.

On paper, it looks as though last week was a rip roarer for ASX 200 shares. The ASX 200 Index put on a very healthy 1.03% to finish back above 7,300 points at 7,348.1 by Friday afternoon.

The ASX banks had a rather lousy week, with Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) losing 0.4% over the week, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) down 0.46%, Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) shares shedding a nasty 1.8%, and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) dropping 1.5%.

But out of the ASX 200 blue-chip shares, it seemed only to be the ASX banks that were in the red last week. Other blue chips like Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS), CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) and Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) all managed decent gains. But they paled in comparison to what the ASX resources sector put up last week.

ASX 200 resources shares strike gold

It was a week to remember for mining shares. BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) was perhaps the most noteworthy performer. The Big Australian managed a very impressive 4.8% gain for the week, and managed to hit another new all-time high on Friday. This one at $51.91 per share. Hot on its heels was Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO), which put on 4.1%. But both were pipped by Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG), which rose by an astonishing 8% last week.

But it wasn’t just the big iron ore miners either. Gold miner Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM) was up 4.6% last week, while lithium miner Orocobre Limited (ASX: ORE) rose 7.3% and hit new all-time high of its own.

Long story short, ASX investors largely have mining shares to thank for last week’s ASX 200 gains.

How did the markets end the week?

As you may have gathered, it was a pretty top week for the ASX 200.

Monday kicked things off with a healthy gain of 0.83%. Tuesday then saw a pretty flat day, with the ASX 200 losing 0.02%. This was reversed on Wednesday when the index pushed 0.32% higher. Thursday once again saw investors push back slightly, with a loss of 0.26%.

But Friday’s gain of 0.17% sealed the deal for the week. Since the ASX 200 started the week out at 7,273.3 points and finished up at 7,348.1, we can clock last week’s gain at 1.03%.

Meanwhile, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) fared even better. The All Ords started out at 7,545.3 points and finished up at 7,630.7 points – marking its gains at 1.13% for the week just gone.

Which ASX 200 shares were the biggest winners and losers?

Time now for our most salacious of segments, our Foolish gossip pages where we look at the ASX 200’s best winners and poorest losers of the week. So fetch the wine and cheese as we, as always, start with the losers:

Worst ASX 200 losers	% loss for the week
Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P)	(14.5%)
Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT)	(12.2%)
Polynovo Ltd (ASX: PNV)	(11.6%)
Mesoblast Limited (ASX: MSB)	(5.7%)

Well, Zip Co was our ASX 200 wooden spooner from last week, with a nasty near-15% drop. This buy now, pay later (BNPL) company was hit hard by the rumours that a certain company that no one wants as a competitor, Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL), may be whipping up a BNPL product of its own. News that PayPal Holdigns Inc (NASDAQ: PYPL) is removing late fees from its own BNPL product probably didn’t help either.

It wasn’t just Zip feeling Apple/PayPal burn either. Fellow BNPL provider Afterpay was also feeling the heat last week, and shed more than 12% as well.

Moving on from BNPL and we had healthcare company Polynovo. Investors can probably look to the Tuesday sales update as the catalyst here. Although this update was initially well received, it didn’t impress brokers, which my Fool colleague James covered here.  In fact, between Tuesday’s opening share price and Friday’s closing one, Polynovo lost more than 17% of its value.

Last and least, in terms of losses anyway, was Polynovo’s fellow healthcare company, Mesoblast. It was a set of clinical trial results that seemed to have gotten investors jittery here. This company is now down a rather unenviable 17.5% year to date so far.

Now with the losers out of the way, let’s check out last week’s ASX 200 winners:

Best ASX 200 gainers	% gain for the week
Spark Infrastructure Group (ASX: SKI)	17.4%
NRW Holdings Limited (ASX: NWH)	13.9%
Perenti Global Ltd (ASX: PRN)	13.2%
ARB Corporation Limited (ASX: ARB)	10.4%

Taking out the ASX 200 gong last week was renewable energy company Spark Infrastructure.

Spark shares were too hot to handle last week, rising by a very pleasing 17.4%. It seems a takeover offer, which Spark rejected, was the primary cause here. The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts together put up an offer of $2.70 in cash per share. But Spark felt this offer undervalued the company. Investors didn’t seem to mind.

Next up we had mining company NRW Holdings. NRW’s gains seemed to have come from news that another company in Boggabri Coal Operations has exercised an option to acquire a majority of NRW’s subsidiary Golding Contractors’ major mining equipment. Investors seemed to approve, judging by the near-14% jump the shares experienced.

Engineering company Perenti also had a great time, rising a touch over 13% last week. This was despite the absence of any major news or announcement from the company.

And finally, we had outdoor recreation company ARB, which also rose a healthy 10.4%. This gain can be attributed to ARB’s market update the company released last week. This update contained ARB’s FY21 earnings numbers, which seemed to be better than what investors were expecting.

A wrap of the ASX 200 blue-chip shares

Before we, er, wrap… things up, here is a look at how the major ASX 200 blue-chip shares are faring as we start on yet another week:

ASX 200 company	Last share price	Trailing P/E ratio	Trailing Dividend Yield	52-week high	52-week low
CSL Limited (ASX: CSL)	$277.72	35.44	1.01%	$320.42	$242
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA)	$98.19	21.84	2.53%	$106.57	$62.64
Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC)	$24.91	21.32	3.57%	$27.12	$16
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ)	$27.43	16.62	3.83%	$29.64	$16.40
National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB)	$25.96	19.92	3.47%	$27.84	$16.56
Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG)	$155.49	18.86	3.02%	$162.06	$118.36
Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG)	$25.78	9.31	9.58%	$26.40	$15.62
BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP)	$51.87	28.11	3.98%	$51.91	$33.73
Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO)	$130.60	16.21	4.7%	$132.94	$90.04
Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM)	$26.90	16.72	1.62%	$38.15	$23.08
Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL)	$22.76	–	2.26%	$27.60	$16.80
Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS)	$3.77	25.3	4.24%	$3.79	$2.66
Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW)	$38.24	34.13	2.64%	$44.06	$35.96
Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES)	$59.12	35.65	2.79%	$59.63	$43.50
Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL)	$17.05	21.68	3.55%	$19.26	$15.28
Transurban Group (ASX: TCL)	$14.49	–	2.52%	$15.64	$12.36
Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD)	$7.91	–	–	$8.04	$4.99
Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT)	$103.21	–	–	$160.05	$65.53

And finally, here is the lay of the land for some leading market indicators:

• S&P/ASX 200 Index (XJO) at 7,378.1 points.
• All Ordinaries Index (XAO) at 7,630.7 points.
• Dow Jones Industrial Average Index (DJX: .DJI) at 34,688 points after falling 0.86% on Friday night (our time).
• Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) going for US$31,771 per coin.
• Gold (spot) swapping hands for US$1,812 per troy ounce.
• Iron ore asking US$219.67 per tonne.
• Crude oil (Brent) trading at US$73.59 per barrel.
• Australian dollar buying 73.99 US cents.
• 10-year Australian Government bonds yielding 1.28% per annum.

That’s all folks. See you next week!

The post ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX shakes off lockdowns to rise higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen owns shares of National Australia Bank Limited, Newcrest Mining Limited, and Telstra Corporation Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO, Apple, CSL Ltd., POLYNOVO FPO, PayPal Holdings, and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended the following options: long January 2022 $75 calls on PayPal Holdings, long March 2023 $120 calls on Apple, and short March 2023 $130 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO, COLESGROUP DEF SET, Macquarie Group Limited, Telstra Corporation Limited, and Wesfarmers Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended ARB Corporation Limited, Apple, and PayPal Holdings. 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 Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) share price will be one to watch on Monday.

This follows the release of an announcement out of the telco giant this morning.

Why is the Telstra share price on watch?

This morning Telstra responded to a news story in the Fairfax press at the weekend suggesting that the company may be on the verge of making an acquisition.

According to the release, Telstra has confirmed that it has been in discussions regarding a potential transaction to acquire telecommunications company, Digicel Pacific in the South Pacific region. This will be in partnership with the Australian Government.

However, it has warned that the discussions are incomplete and there is no certainty that a transaction will proceed. Telstra intends to keep the market updated as appropriate.

What is Digicel Pacific?

Digicel Pacific was founded in 2006 by Denis O’Brien, an Irish entrepreneur, and is a leading provider of communications services across Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Nauru, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu.

It has a strong market position and an extensive network coverage in the South Pacific region. In calendar year 2020 it generated EBITDA of US$235 million.

What is happening?

Given that Telstra is currently offloading assets, news of a potential acquisition will no doubt have come as a surprise to investors.

The release explains that Telstra was initially approached by the Australian Government to provide technical advice in relation to Digicel Pacific, which it notes is a commercially attractive asset and critical to telecommunications in the region. After which, the two parties began looking at a potential acquisition of the Pacific-based telco.

Positively, if Telstra were to proceed with a transaction, it would be with financial and strategic risk management support from the Government.

Management also highlights that in addition to a significant Government funding and support package, any investment would also have to be within certain financial parameters, with Telstra’s equity investment being the minor portion of the overall transaction.

The Telstra share price is up 25% in 2021.

The post Telstra (ASX:TLS) share price in focus after confirming Digicel Pacific acquisition talks appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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 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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The Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) share price is having a tough month on the ASX.

Right now, it’s fallen 7.53% over the last 30 days. This time last month, shares in Westpac were trading for $26.94. Now, they’re swapping hands for $24.91.

So, what’s been going on to drive the Westpac share price down? Let’s take a look.

The month that’s been for the Westpac share price

New Zealand decision

On June 24, Westpac broke the tension by announcing it had decided to keep its New Zealand banking business.

The Westpac share price fell 0.96% on the back of the news.

Back in March, the bank announced it was reassessing whether it would continue to operate its New Zealand business. Westpac stated it was considering numerous options, one of which was demerging the business.

Ultimately, the demerger didn’t come to fruition. Westpac’s CEO Peter King said:

WNZL is a strong business that has been serving New Zealand for 160 years. We remain committed to delivering for customers and fulfilling our purpose of helping Australians and New Zealanders succeed.

Insurance divestment

On 1 July, Westpac released news it had sold Westpac General Life Insurance and Westpac General Insurance Services Limited to Allianz.

After the announcement, the Westpac share price dropped to close 0.62% lower.

Allianz paid $725 million for the two businesses. It’s expected to pay another $25 million later this year.

Compensation payment and fraud allegations

July 2 wasn’t a good day for Westpac.

In the morning, it announced it would pay out $87 million in compensation for failing to provide its customers with needed information.

The bank compensated 32,000 customers who were affected by its financial advice business’ failings between 2005 and 2019.

Then, that afternoon, the bank announced it was taking Forum Finance to court after it discovered potential fraud within a portfolio of equipment leases arranged by Forum.

Westpac said it planned to begin proceedings against Forum in the Federal Court of Australia. Westpac said none of its customers had been affected. However, around $200 million (after tax) of its own coin had been exposed.

Despite all of the bad news, the Westpac share price only fell 0.04%.

Asset sales

Finally, on 6 July, Westpac announced it sold Westpac Life NZ to Fidelity Life Insurance.

The Westpac share price fell 0.43% on the back of the news.

Westpac received around $373 million from the sale. The sale is still subject to numerous approvals but it’s expected to be completed before the end of this year.

Westpac share price snapshot

Despite a poor month’s performance, the Westpac share price has been going well lately.

It’s gained 26% year to date. It has also increased by 39% over the last 12 months.

The post The Westpac (ASX:WBC) share price has fallen 8% over the last 30 days appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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 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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