Proactive’s Tylah Tully gives a market wrap for the 30th of August.
The ASX closed higher today, gaining 0.58% on lower-than-normal volume, increasing by 46.8 points to reach 8,091.9. Over the past five days, the index has risen by 0.85%, currently 0.7% below its 52-week high.
Downer EDI Ltd was the top-performing stock, surging by 16.95% to $5.59 per share. This increase followed the company's strong financial results for FY24, reporting a 34% rise in pro forma earnings before interest, taxes, and amortisation (EBITA) to $384.1 million, with a margin increase of 0.7 percentage points.
On the other hand, Ramsay Health Care saw its shares fall by 6.75% to $41.55. The decline came after the company released its FY24 financial results, which showed a 0.4% decrease in EBIT and a 2.7% drop in profit after tax.
Despite these declines, Ramsay increased its full-year dividend by 6.7%.
Sector-wise, eight out of eleven sectors closed higher, with Industrials leading, up 1.65%, followed by Energy, which gained 1.27%. The Consumer Discretionary sector was the worst performer, declining by 0.46%.