Key takeaways:

• Coal stocks staged a relief rally, while iron ore gains offered some protection against weakness from other market cohorts

The RBA latest rate hike knocked the wind out of the local share market, but investors found opportunistic trades across the materials and energy sectors.

Which shares excelled?

A major contract win was enough for shares in Sigma Healthcare (ASX: SIG) to rocket higher this week. The pharmacy operator and supplier gained as much as 30% when the company announced it signed a multi-year binding term sheet with Chemist Warehouse for the supply of Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) medicines and Fast-Moving-Consumer-Goods (FMCG). 

While Sigma was already fulfilling the latter, the PBS supply deal is a new win for the business, with the entire contract worth an estimated $3 billion in sales for the first full year. As part of the deal, Sigma will issue Chemist Warehouse approximately 10.7% of its share capital for nil consideration, with non-core assets also set to be sold to its client.

Coal stocks were the major segment to gain ground on Thursday, with the likes of New Hope (ASX: NHC), Whitehaven Coal (ASX: WHC), Stanmore Resources (ASX: SMR), and Yancoal (ASX: YAL) all rallying. Despite the absence of any news, the cohort largely rallied as part of a broad-based performance from the energy sector, which fired up. That may have had something to do with a mid-week sell-off in US tech stocks, where energy was one of the only sectors left trading in the green.Shipbuilder Austal (ASX: ASB) is reportedly fielding potential M&A queries from a number of suitors, at least according to the media. The company was said to be considering approaches from several North American investment funds that specialise in the defence industry.  

Austal has gained prominence as a potentially key player in the AUKUS defence pact, and recently won a major contract to design and build a surveillance ship for the US Navy, with the potential for that scope to be expanded to US$3.2 billion worth of work.  

A trading update helped spur a rally in the share price of fund manager GQG Partners (ASX: GQG) this week. On Wednesday the firm delivered a funds under management (FUM) report, confirming the company saw a net inflow of US$5.9 billion for the first five months of 2023. 

Furthermore, total funds under management at the end of May were US$98.5 billion, down just US$0.1 billion compared with the month prior. The result was seen as positive given the sell-off that preceded the update.

Another winner this week was Polynovo (ASX: PNV), but its gains were cut down to size on Thursday as profit taking swept in. Nonetheless, the company announced a record month for sales, reporting $7.2 million for May. Of that amount, $5.2 million was generated in the US, up 97.3% year-over-year, and the rest of the world delivered $1.9 million, up nearly threefold.Elsewhere, investors saw strong gains for Alpha HPA (ASX: A4N), NRW Holdings (ASX: NWH), and Integral Diagnostics (ASX: IDX), among others.

Which shares dragged on the market?

Mid-tier gold names found themselves under the pump, at least during the first half of the week. Companies like Resolute Mining (ASX: RSG), Silver Lake Resources (ASX: SLR), De Grey Mining (ASX: DEG), West African Resources (ASX: WAF), and Gold Road Resources (ASX: GOR) were off the pace, hurt by a rising Australian dollar. That followed the Reserve Bank of Australia decision to hike interest rates, with potentially more hikes to follow.Local share market operator ASX (ASX: ASX) took a beating in light of the company investor day presentation. Unveiling a new five-year strategy, the ASX also provided its forward-looking guidance, and investors were none too thrilled about what they heard. In particular, the company hiked its total expenses guidance by 12% for FY23, and by 12% to 15% for FY24. 

The cost blowout is attributable to the business' ongoing issues in developing a CHESS replacement solution, as well as regulatory and tech-related costs. With higher costs on the horizon, the ASX also revised its dividend policy, with the dividend payout ratio set to decline from 90% of underlying NPAT to between 80% and 90% of underlying NPAT as of FY24.

Tech shares suffered a minor hiccup on Thursday as investors responded to a sudden Nasdaq selloff, with the sector down nearly 4% for the day. Among the casualties were Seek (ASX: SEK) and Altium (ASX: ALU), with both companies hit by a wave of selling pressure, despite no price-sensitive news.A week after delivering one of the strongest performances across the market, shares in the country national airline hit a snag. It wasn't too hard for observers to spot the reason why, with Qantas (ASX: QAN) CEO, Alan Joyce, selling 83% of his stake in the airline for an estimated $17 million. These shares were sold on-market at a price of $6.75 each, at the same time the company continues its buyback program.And last but not least, shares in Nanosonics (ASX: NAN), LendLease (ASX: LLC), and Domain Holdings (ASX: DHG) were among this week underperformers.

We'll be back next week with another Weekly ASX Trading Wrap Up - until then, have a great week!

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