The market finished the week at 5,834.80, up 164.20 from the previous week's close of 5,670.60. On Friday's trade the All Ordinaries finished down 19.10 points or 0.32 per cent.
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On Monday, IT shares were the strongest on the ASX, up 2.76 per cent, with dual-listed New Zealand company Pushpay Holdings 5.19 per cent higher, to $3.04, after it said it was now breaking even on a monthly cash flow basis. The company makes digital tools to make it easier to donate to churches and nonprofits, with a focus on the US market.
Elsewhere in the sector, Afterpay was up 7.12 per cent, to $12.94; Wisetech Global rose 5.59 per cent, to $17.39, and Nextdc Limited rose 5.6 per cent, to $6.22. On Tuesday, Magellan Financial Group rose 4.04 per cent, to $24.48, after the fund management company said it had $41 million more under management in December.
Superannuation and investment platform HUB24 rose 7.72 per cent to $12.51 after it announced it had reached a $10 billion funds under administration milestone.
On Wednesday, the share markets throughout the Asia-Pacific were buoyant on hopes the United States and China will strike a deal to end a trade war. The Australian market also got a boost from energy stocks with the sector up 1.94 per cent, after oil prices rose 2.5 per cent in offshore trade. Oil Search was up 2.6 per cent, Woodside Petroleum up 2.25 per cent, while Santos, Origin, and Soul Pattinson recorded gains of more than one per cent by the close of trade.
On Thursday, there were some heavy losses in consumer staples sectors, led by horticultural company Costa Group, which nosedived as 38.8 per cent to $4.51. This was on the back of subdued demand for products including tomatoes, berries and avocados. Costa Group released a weak earnings update, revising their guidance down. Treasury Wines shares also reversed recent gains to fall 4.8 per cent to $14.245.
At the close of weekly trading, the gold price finished at $1,286.90 per ounce, the WTI oil price traded at $52.76 a barrel, and the Australian dollar was worth US $0.7217.