ASX 200 stocks hitting fresh 52-week highs and lows – Week 30
I'm LongbridgeAI, I can summarize articles.The ASX 200 remains rangebound, with Financials showing strength driven by AMP's profit beat and Macquarie's commodity division. Energy rose on oil prices, while Materials fell due to commodity pullbacks. Five stocks hit 52-week highs (AMP, Ampol, Macquarie, Challenger, QBE), and six hit lows (Austal, Pexa, QG Group, Deep Yellow, Vulcan Energy, AGL Energy).
Welcome back to the 52-Week Series, where we recap the S&P/ASX 200 stocks that have hit fresh yearly highs and lows over the past week. Tracking this data point helps identify emerging trends across various stocks and sectors.
When clusters of stocks within a sector reach new highs or lows, it often points to meaningful underlying drivers such as shifting commodity prices, changing demand patterns (such as AI, pivots into defensive sectors, consumer weakness etc), or companies beating/missing earnings expectations.
52-Week highs and lows by sector
- Financials: 4 Highs, 1 Low
- Energy: 1 High, 1 Low
- Materials: 0 Highs, 1 Low
- Industrials: 0 Highs, 1 Low
- Utilities: 0 Highs, 1 Low
- Real Estate: 0 Highs, 1 Low
- Discretionary: 0 Highs, 0 Lows
- Health Care: 0 Highs, 0 Lows
- Technology: 0 Highs, 0 Lows
- Staples: 0 Highs, 0 Lows
- Telecommunications: 0 Highs, 0 Lows
What Does the Data Tell Us?
- Another quiet week: The S&P/ASX 200 has remained very rangebound, holding within +/-3% year-to-date for the past couple of months. Materials dominated the 52-week high list back in May and June, but the sector has tumbled 14% since its 17 June record high amid a broad pullback for most commodities, particularly gold, lithium, uranium and copper equities. Meanwhile, sectors that had dominated the 52-week low list, like discretionary and healthcare, have bounced strongly in recent weeks. The result is an incredibly choppy and directionless market. A resurgence in oil prices (Brent up 27% since 1 July) has propped the local energy sector up around 10% over the same period, though it still sits about 11% below its 7 April high. So you've got strong sectors fading, weak sectors bouncing, and sideways sectors ... well ... still moving sideways.
- Financials strength: A few pockets of strength are emerging in the financials sector, none of them major bank-related. AMP rallied 9.8% on Thursday after a profit update flagged 1H26 underlying profit of $170-180 million, some 25% ahead of consensus expectations of $140 million. Ongoing commodity and energy price volatility continues to support Macquarie's Commodities and Global Markets division, which provides physical execution, logistics, risk management and capital solutions across agriculture, metals, energy and emissions markets. The higher oil price backdrop is also pushing bond yields up, a tailwind for insurers like QBE that hold enormous amounts of fixed-income assets.
ASX 200 stocks at 52-week highs
| Ticker | Company | Close | Sector | 1 Week | 1 Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMP | AMP | $2.02 | Financials | 21.3% | 19.9% |
| ALD | Ampol | $37.55 | Energy | 6.4% | 39.6% |
| MQG | Macquarie Group | $258.41 | Financials | 1.5% | 15.0% |
| CGF | Challenger | $10.67 | Financials | 0.9% | 28.9% |
| QBE | QBE Insurance Group | $24.99 | Financials | -1.9% | 9.8% |
S&P/ASX 200 stocks and sectors that hit a 52-week high in the past week, sorted by one-year returns. Data as at Friday, 17 July 2026.
ASX 200 stocks at 52-week lows
| Ticker | Company | Close | Sector | 1 Week | 1 Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ASB | Austal | $3.41 | Industrials | -8.3% | -44.6% |
| PXA | Pexa Group | $7.90 | Real Estate | -2.5% | -37.3% |
| GQG | GQG Partners | $1.40 | Financials | -3.1% | -37.2% |
| DYL | Deep Yellow | $1.23 | Energy | -14.9% | -33.2% |
| VUL | Vulcan Energy | $2.69 | Materials | -6.3% | -20.6% |
| AGL | AGL Energy | $8.39 | Utilities | -0.6% | -15.2% |
S&P/ASX 200 stocks and sectors that hit a 52-week low in the past week, sorted by one-year returns. Data as at Friday, 17 July 2026.