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Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) is likely the first word you’ll hear if you ask anyone about cryptocurrencies.

That’s because Bitcoin holds the claim of being the world’s first crypto. It was launched all the way back in 2009 by someone (or a group of folks) going by the name of Satoshi Nakamoto.

Fast forward 12 years and Bitcoin still has by far the largest market cap of any digital token, currently US$929.3 billion.

That’s more than twice its closest rival, Ethereum (CRYTPO: ETH), which has a market valuation of US$442.2 billion.

But it’s not Bitcoin or Ether driving a fresh wave of FOMO among crypto investors. It’s the fast-rising altcoins these investors are hoping to make rapid gains from.

The altcoins leaving Bitcoin in their wake

Altcoins, if you’re not familiar, simply refer to any cryptocurrency that’s not Bitcoin. And altcoins can potentially soar in price in a matter of hours. And, of course, they can fall just as quickly.

With that precaution in mind, we look at the top-performing altcoin over the past 24 hours and the top weekly performer.

First, the best performer of the past 7 days is Arweave (CRYPTO: AR).

Arweave is up 134% over the past week, compared to a 3% gain for Bitcoin. That comes despite Arweave tumbling 10% over the past 24 hours. (There’s that stomach-churning volatility for you.)

At the current price, the token has a market valuation of US$2.0 billion.

So what the heck does Arweave do? According to CoinMarketCap:

Arweave is a decentralised storage network that seeks to offer a platform for the indefinite storage of data. Describing itself as “a collectively owned hard drive that never forgets,” the network primarily hosts “the permaweb” — a permanent, decentralised web with a number of community-driven applications and platforms.

Moving on to the best daily performer, we have FTX Token (CRYPTO: FTT).

FTT is up 41% since this time yesterday, giving it a current market valuation of US$6.5 billion.

CoinMarketCap tells us that, “FTT is the native cryptocurrency token of the crypto derivatives trading platform FTX that launched on May 8, 2019″.

It’s currently trading at all-time highs of US$68.84, having just rocketed past the previous record high of US$61.25, set on 8 May this year.

Now, if you’re feeling that old FOMO itching, I’ll also point out that by 25 June it had fallen to US$23.36, a loss of more than 62%.

What the experts are saying

Taking a look beyond just Bitcoin, Yoni Assia, CEO of online exchange eToro said (quoted by Bloomberg):

There’s no doubt that there’s a lot of excitement in crypto. You can definitely see it within the numbers in the industry, whether it’s looking at total volumes or looking at growth of companies… We’ve seen a lot of exuberance in the market.

Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of crypto exchange FTX said: “There’s generally been pretty positive crypto sentiment recently. NFTs have helped lead the revival, and the crash from May is further in the rearview mirror.”

Michael O’Rourke, chief market strategist at Jones Trading, noted the record levels of global government stimulus and sounded the following words of caution:

With all of this money floating around, we should not be surprised that there are people paying exorbitant amounts of money for digital pet rocks and an endless amount of other digital assets that can be easily created.

Digital pet rocks? Or digital gold?

The jury remains out on that question.

But there is no question that Bitcoin and altcoins can lose value just as quickly, or quicker, than they can potentially gain it.

The post These 2 altcoins are leaving Bitcoin in the dust this week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Billionaire investor: Bitcoin going to zero but this ASX share should shine
• Bitcoin vs Ethereum: Which is better for me?
• The next Bitcoin? Why investors are bullish on fast-rising altcoin Cardano
• Bitcoin rockets past US$50,000 as analysts eye October price catalyst
• Up 50% in a month! Bitcoin is back over US$50,000

The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Bitcoin and Ethereum. 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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I like to keep an eye on substantial shareholder notices. This is because these notices give you an idea of which shares large investors, asset managers, and investment funds are buying or selling.

Two notices that have caught my eye are summarised below. Here’s what this fund manager has been buying:

Bapcor Ltd (ASX: BAP)

According to a change of interests of substantial holder notice, AustralianSuper has been increasing its stake in this auto parts retailer again.

The notice reveals that the super fund has added approximately 3.5 million shares to its holding over the last three months. As a result, AustralianSuper now owns a total of 27,645,723 Bapcor shares, which is the equivalent of an 8.15% stake.

AustralianSuper was purchasing shares as recently as 25 August when it picked up 279,699 shares at an average of $7.48 per share. This is higher than the latest Bapcor share price of $7.23, giving investors an opportunity to buy in at a cheaper price than what AustralianSuper paid.

The team at Macquarie certainly see this share price weakness as a buying opportunity. Last week the broker put an outperform rating and $8.55 price target on Bapcor’s shares.

Hipages Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: HPG)

Another change of interests of substantial holder notice reveals that Challenger Ltd (ASX: CGF) has been buying more of this online tradie marketplace provider’s shares.

According to the notice, Challenger has picked up ~1.3 million shares over the last few months. This has brought its holding to a total of 7,909,443 shares, which equates to a 6.08% stake.

The fund manager’s last purchase came on 31 August when it paid $155,375 for 42,649 shares. This represents an average of $3.64 per share, which is broadly in line with where the Hipages share price trades today.

The good news for Challenger is that the team at Goldman Sachs see plenty of upside from here. They recently retained their buy rating and lifted their price target on Hipages’ shares to $4.35.

The post Fund managers are buying these ASX shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 2 ASX shares I like from reporting season: expert
• Why Zip (ASX:Z1P) and this fantastic ASX growth share could be buys
• Hipages (ASX:HPG) share price soars 6% on realised guidance
• 3 rapidly growing ASX tech shares to buy
• Brokers name 2 mid cap ASX shares as buys

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 Hipages Group Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Bapcor and Challenger 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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Today, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) shaved a bit off the top. The benchmark index finished 0.55% lower to 7,485.7 points. BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) weighed on the Aussie index as it went ex-dividend today.

However, the question is: which shares from the top 200 delivered the most green on the ASX today? Here are the ten stocks that delivered the biggest gains while the market fell:

Top 10 ASX 200 shares countdown today

Looking at the top 200 listed companies, Dicker Data Ltd (ASX: DDR) was the biggest gainer today. Shares in the tech distribution company increased 4.89% as directors buy more shares. Find out more about Dicker Data here.

The next best performing ASX share out of the top 200 today was Altium Ltd (ASX: ALU). The software company’s shares climbed 3.71% to $31.06 today despite no announcements. Uncover the latest Altium information here.

Today’s top 10 biggest gains were made in these ASX 200 shares:

ASX-listed company	Share price	Price change
Dicker Data Ltd (ASX: DDR)	$14.055	4.89%
Altium Ltd (ASX: ALU)	$31.135	3.96%
ALS Ltd (ASX: ALQ)	$12.835	3.09%
NextDC Ltd (ASX: NXT)	$13.75	3.07%
Summerset Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: SNZ)	$15.10	3.00%
Pro Medicus Ltd (ASX: PME)	$61.96	2.77%
Yancoal Australia Ltd (ASX: YAL)	$2.37	2.60%
Viva Energy Group Ltd (ASX: VEA)	$2.195	2.57%
Adbri Ltd (ASX: ABC)	$3.48	2.35%
Orica Ltd (ASX: ORI)	$13.30	2.23%

Our top 10 ASX 200 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 200 shares on Thursday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why Altium, Catapult, Dicker Data, & PolyNovo shares are charging higher
• Energy shares are the only ASX 200 sector on the rise this Thursday
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell today
• Dicker Data (ASX:DDR) share price surges 5% as directors buy the dip
• Which ASX 300 shares are the biggest winners and losers on Thursday?

Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler owns shares of Pro Medicus Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Altium, Dicker Data Limited, and Pro Medicus Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Altium, Dicker Data Limited, and Pro Medicus 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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Most weeks, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA)’s share trading service CommSec tells us the most popular US shares that its Australian user base has been buying and selling over the previous week.

Since CommSec is one of the most widely used brokers in Australia, this trading data gives us an interesting window into what kinds of US shares Aussie investors are taking a closer look at.

So here are the top 10 US shares from CommSec last week. This week’s data covers 23-27 August.

Alibaba shoots to the top of the pile

1. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE: BABA) – representing 3.9% of total trades with an 86%/14% buy-to-sell ratio.
2. Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) – representing 3.2% of total trades with a 65%/35% buy-to-sell ratio.
3. GameStop Corp (NYSE: GME) – representing 2.9% of total trades with a 78%/22% buy-to-sell ratio.
4. Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) – representing 2.7% of total trades with a 74%/26% buy-to-sell ratio.
5. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) – representing 1.9% of total trades with an 86%/314% buy-to-sell ratio.
6. Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE)
7. NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA)
8. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN)
9. AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc (NYSE: AMC)
10. Alphabet Inc Class C (NASDAQ: GOOG)

What can we learn from these trades?

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has shot to the top of the pile as CommSec’s most popular share last week. The Chinese behemoth behind Alipay, AliExpress, and Ant Financial took home a total of almost 4% of all CommSec international trades last week.

It even pipped the perennially popular Tesla, the electric car and battery manufacturer helmed by Elon Musk. What’s more, an overwhelming majority of 86% of all trades were on the buy side.

It’s not hard to see why ASX investors might have suddenly developed an appetite for Alibaba shares. This company has been on a steep decline all year, losing around 24% of its value over 2021 so far. Alibaba is also down more than 44% from its all-time high from October last year. It seems a number of Australian investors are sensing a bargain buy here.

In other news, we still see enduring demand for shares like GameStop and AMC, long held up as examples of ‘meme stocks’. GameStop shares are now up almost 40% over just the past fortnight, so it’s easy to see where this optimism is coming from.

We also see continuing interest in the big tech blue-chip shares like Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Google-parent Alphabet. These companies have generally been hitting new all-time highs of late, but that’s nothing new for the FAANGs.

Finally, it’s interesting to see vaccine maker Pfizer here too. With 86% of trades on the buy side, it seems some investors may be so inspired by a recent vaccine that they have been compelled to invest in the company too.

The post ASX investors were buying Alibaba, Pfizer shares last week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ASX 200 bank shares could struggle due to lockdowns – expert
• The CBA (ASX:CBA) share price is now trading on a 3.46% fully-franked dividend yield
• Top broker picks best ASX 200 bank shares to buy coming out of reporting season
• How does the NAB dividend compare to its sector?
• Better buy: Amazon or every Nasdaq stock?

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Teresa Kersten, an employee of LinkedIn, a Microsoft subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen owns shares of Alphabet (A shares), Pfizer, and Tesla. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended the following options: long January 2022 $1,920 calls on Amazon, long March 2023 $120 calls on Apple, short January 2022 $1,940 calls on Amazon, and short March 2023 $130 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Amazon, Apple, and Nvidia. 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 Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC) share price has rallied 20% in the last week to a 9-month high of $2.72 during trading today.

At today’s close, Whitehaven shares were changing hands for $2.66, up 1.14%.

What’s driving the Whitehaven Coal share price?

Coal prices are surging in China, with prices for premium hard coking coal lifting by US$9.18/t to US431.03/t on Wednesday, according to Fastmarkets MB.

Elsewhere, China’s most-traded coking coal futures on the Dalian Commodities Exchange rallied to touch the highest levels on record.

The bullish performance of the Whitehaven Coal share price broadly coincides with the recent strength behind coal prices.

Encouraging FY21 results

Whitehaven Coal reported its FY21 full-year results on Thursday, 26 August.

At face value, the company reported a weak financial performance. It had revenues of $1.56 billion, down from $1.72 billion in FY20, and a net loss after tax before significant items of $87.3 million.

The seemingly negative financial performance was weighed down by significant expenses during the year, totaling $650 million, relating to asset impairments.

On the day the results were announced, the Whitehaven Coal share price tumbled 3.60% to $2.14 on open. However, buyers stepped up to push it well into positive territory, closing the session 4.95% higher at $2.33.

Whitehaven Coal managing director and CEO Paul Flynn described the year as one with “highs and lows both operationally and in terms of factors outside our control”.

“In the reporting period, cyclical lows in coal price were replaced with record highs, with the gC NEWC index currently trading around US$170 per tonne,” he said.

“While we had our hands full putting the more difficult geological conditions at Narrabri behind us, we also saw our largest production asset, Maules Creek, achieve record annual ROM production of 12.7Mt.”

Looking ahead, Flynn commented that the “outlook is better than what we have seen for some time, with the strong price environment putting us on an accelerated timeline to de-leveraging the balance sheet and returning cash to shareholders”.

Whitehaven Coal share price snap shot

It’s been a good year on the ASX for Whitehaven, with shares up by more than 60% so far.

In the past 12 months, the Whitehaven Coal share price has gained a whopping 206%.

The post The Whitehaven Coal (ASX:WHC) share price is up 20% in the last week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Whitehaven (ASX:WHC) share price rebounds 5% on earnings
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares on Thursday
• Whitehaven (ASX:WHC) share price sinks on falling FY21 revenues
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares on Monday
• Whitehaven (ASX:WHC) share price lifts 6% ahead of earnings this week

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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Australia’s leading investment platform provider CommSec has released data on the most traded ASX shares on its platform from last week.

Here’s the data:

Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P)

This buy now pay later (BNPL) provider was the most traded share on the CommSec platform again last week. However, despite 60% of the volume coming from buyers, it couldn’t stop the Zip share price from edging 1% lower over the period. This followed the release of full year results which revealed strong sales growth but a large loss.

Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF (ASX: NDQ)

This ETF was popular with investors once again last week, making it the second most traded ASX share. The vast majority of these trades came from buyers, with approximately 84% of the volume attributable to the buy side. They will have been pleased to see the Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF record its fourth consecutive weekly gain.

Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT)

The next most popular ASX share was this BNPL provider. Although Afterpay is in the process of being acquired by Square, investors continue to trade its shares in high numbers. The buying and selling was largely split, with buyers making up 52% of the volume. Last week Afterpay released its full year results and revealed a 78% increase in revenue. Like Zip, it also posted a significant loss.

Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT)

This travel agent was heavily traded last week, with buyers making up 60% of the volume. They will have been delighted to have seen the Flight Centre share price surge 23% higher over the five days. This followed the release of its full year results for FY 2021. Although the company posted a big loss, investors were pleased with news that it expects to reach profitability again during FY 2022.

A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M)

The fifth most traded share last week on CommSec was this struggling infant formula company. And although over two-thirds of the volume came from the buy side, it couldn’t stop the A2 Milk share price from sinking 10% over the period. This followed the release of a disappointing full year result and expectations for another tough year in FY 2022.

The post A2 Milk and Zip were among the most traded ASX shares last week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell today
• Refundid rides the Afterpay (ASX:APT) wave with $3m funding round
• ASX 200 midday update: BHP sinks, Flight Centre expansion
• Why the A2 Milk (ASX:A2M) share price has underperformed the ASX 200 in the last year
• Flight Centre (ASX:FLT) share price falls despite expansion news

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 AFTERPAY T FPO, BETANASDAQ ETF UNITS, and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO and BETANASDAQ ETF UNITS. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended A2 Milk and Flight Centre Travel 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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The Silex Systems Ltd (ASX: SLX) share price is having a phenomenal Thursday.

At the time of writing, shares in the company are trading for $1.35. Earlier, however, they reached an intraday high of $1.49 – an astonishing 23.7% rise on the previous day’s close.

Let’s take a closer look at what’s going on.

Company profile

First, let’s take a quick look at what Silex does for the unfamiliar.

According to Motley Fool, Silex is an Australian research and development (R&D) company. Its area of expertise is focused on uranium enrichment technology. Its premier product is the Silex Systems laser uranium enrichment system.

Silex also says it has an interest in semiconductor technology and silicon-based quantum computing.

Why the Silex share price is rising

One possible reason for the rising Silex share price may be continuing investor interest from its market announcement of 30 August.

In this announcement, Silex revealed “the completion of a key milestone in the Zero-Spin Silicon (ZS-Si) Project”. This milestone was the successful start-up of a prototype demonstration facility and testing of the ZA-Si Project.

According to the company, the ZS-Si production technology “is based on a variant of the SILEX laser isotope separation (LIS) platform technology.” The project is being completed in partnership with Silicon Quantum Computing Ltd (SQC) and the University of New South Wales (UNSW).

Silex CEO, Dr Michael Goldsworthy, said of the developments

We have continued to make very good progress to date, meeting all Project milestones despite the headwinds created by the COVID pandemic. We remain on track with the overall goal of developing our SILEX LIS technology for the production of high-purity ZS-Si for the emerging quantum computing industry by the end of 2022.

The Project now moves into the next phase of work – undertaking rigorous process measurements with the facility over the coming months, characterising and optimising the process and improving the technology for efficient production of high-purity ZS-Si.

The Silex share price rose 28.9% over 2 days after this announcement was made, and rising substantially again after a small reprieve yesterday.

Silex share price snapshot

Over the last 12 months, the Silex share price has increased 127%. Year-to-date it is 24.1% higher. While its returns since the beginning of the year are not as impressive as those over 52-weeks, it is still outpacing the ASX All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) by 13 percentage points.

Silex Systems has a market capitalisation of around $208 million.

The post The Silex (ASX:SLX) share price rocketed 24% on Thursday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Prescient Therapeutics (ASX:PTX) share price up 5% on Thursday
• Why Altium, Catapult, Dicker Data, & PolyNovo shares are charging higher
• Energy shares are the only ASX 200 sector on the rise this Thursday
• The Dimerix (ASX:DXB) share price is up 3% on Thursday
• The Strategic Elements (ASX:SOR) share price is up 5% on Thursday

Motley Fool contributor Marc Sidarous 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 Prescient Therapeutics Ltd (ASX: PTX) share price has gained a further 5% to trade at 23 cents on Thursday afternoon.

Prescient shares have been on the move over this past week and have climbed 28% into the green over this time.

What tailwinds are behind the Prescient share price lately?

The Prescient share price has been gaining steam since the company reported its FY21 earnings on 30 August.

In it, the company recognised an almost 6% downwards step in revenue to $66,285, whereas the loss after tax increased by 25% over the year.

The company also increased its net assets by $9.2 million to $20.4 million. The bolus of this increase was the issuance of share capital.

Investors are perhaps more concerned with the advancements of the company’s “targeted therapies” PTX-100 and PTX-200.

Both therapies are compounds aimed at the treatment and prevention of cancer, by blocking the growth of tumours in the body.

Currently, PTX-100 has progressed through a Phase 1b trial over the year, “yielding encouraging results” according to the company.

The PTX-200 compound is also in a Phase 1b trial investigating its efficacy in patients with “relapsed and refractory acute myeloid leukaemia (AML)”.

One clear takeout from the year was the development of Prescient’s OmniCAR platform.

The OmniCAR segment is described as a “modular CAR platform created to overcome many of the well-documented limitations and challenges of the current CAR-T treatments, especially in the area of solid tumours”.

For reference, CAR-T treatments are a new type of intervention that is used in immunotherapy and the treatment of cancer. The company made significant advancements in this segment over the course of FY21, according to the release.

There has been no other market-sensitive information released by the company over the past couple of days.

Therefore, it stands to reason that investors are buying Prescient shares on the back of this fundamental momentum.

Prescient share price snapshot

The Prescient share price has posted a 12-month gain of 221%. This has far outpaced the S&P/ASX 200 index (ASX: XJO), which has returned about 23% over the past year.

The post Prescient Therapeutics (ASX:PTX) share price up 5% on Thursday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• The Silex (ASX:SLX) share price rocketed 24% on Thursday
• Why Altium, Catapult, Dicker Data, & PolyNovo shares are charging higher
• Energy shares are the only ASX 200 sector on the rise this Thursday
• The Dimerix (ASX:DXB) share price is up 3% on Thursday
• The Strategic Elements (ASX:SOR) share price is up 5% on Thursday

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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In late trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is out of form and tumbling lower. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is down 0.7% to 7,472.5 points.

Four ASX shares that are not letting that hold them back are listed below. Here’s why they are charging higher:

Altium Limited (ASX: ALU)

The Altium share price is up over 3% to $30.93. Earlier this week, Citi upgraded the electronic design software provider’s shares to a buy rating with a $35.40 price target. It believes the recent weakness in the Altium share price is a buying opportunity. Particularly given its guidance for revenue growth of 16% to 20% in FY 2022.

Catapult Group International Ltd (ASX: CAT)

The Catapult share price is up 1.5% to $1.91. This morning the sports analytics and wearables company announced a deal with the English Super League and Sky Sports. The deal will see Catapult provide real-time player statistics direct to viewers at home during live rugby league games.

Dicker Data Ltd (ASX: DDR)

The Dicker Data share price has risen 4.5% to $14.02. Investors continue to buy this IT distributor’s shares following a sharp pullback after some insider selling spooked the market. One of those buyers was CFO Mary Stojcevski. She picked up 2,900 shares via an on-market trade on Tuesday for a total consideration of approximately $37,400.

PolyNovo Ltd (ASX: PNV)

The PolyNovo share price is up over 3% to $2.18. This is despite there being no news out of the medical device company. However, with its shares down sharply this year, bargain hunters may be swooping in today. In addition to this, last week Macquarie retained its outperform rating and put a $2.70 price target on its shares. The broker remains positive on PolyNovo’s long term growth potential.

The post Why Altium, Catapult, Dicker Data, & PolyNovo shares are charging higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell today
• Dicker Data (ASX:DDR) share price surges 5% as directors buy the dip
• The Polynovo (ASX:PNV) share price is up 5% on Thursday
• Which ASX 300 shares are the biggest winners and losers on Thursday?
• 3 fantastic ASX shares that could be buys

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 Altium, Catapult Group International Ltd, Dicker Data Limited, and POLYNOVO FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Altium, Catapult Group International Ltd, and Dicker Data 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 S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) isn’t having a great day today. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 is down a substantial 0.76% to 7,470 points.

Looking at which ASX 200 shares are contributing to this fall today, and, well, it seems to be all of them. ASX bank shares like Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) have fallen . The miners like BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) and Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) are down. Even CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) has taken a hit.

But one ASX 200 sector is bucking the trend today, and decisively so. That would be ASX 200 energy shares.

Yep, energy shares are certainly helping to cap the ASX 200 losses this Thursday. The S&P/ASX 200 Energy Index (ASX: XEJ) is up a healthy 0.45% today. That’s being enabled by companies like Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) and Oil Search Ltd (ASX: OSH), both up by 1.14% and 1.33% respectively at the time of writing.

Even Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) is in the green, currently up 0.1% to $19.76 a share, after an initial fall this morning.

Not all energy shares are in the green today though. For instance, one of the ASX’s largest oil companies in Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) is still down today.

Still, ASX 200 energy shares are certainly shining today overall. So what gives?

ASX energy shares burn bright

Well, we can probably put the strength that the ASX energy sector is displaying today down to recent movements in the price of crude oil – the lifeblood of energy companies like Woodside, Oil Search and Santos. According to Bloomberg, Brent crude was being priced at less than US$66 a barrel less than two weeks ago. Today, it’s going for US$71.37 a barrel.

That’s a significant change in value in a short space of time, and represents a meaningful boost to the kind of cash flows energy shares can bring in, especially if pricing holds at these new levels for a while.

It could be this bounce back in crude oil pricing that is behind the ASX energy sector’s strength this Thursday. 

The post Energy shares are the only ASX 200 sector on the rise this Thursday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen 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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