Which shares excelled?

These were the major winners over recent trading sessions:

• Buy-now pay-later operator Zip (ASX: ZIP) delivered a series of positive trading sessions this week, despite no price-sensitive news coming out of the company. However, across the last six months, the company’s market cap has increased by over 300%, and since posting an EBITDA-positive result late last month, ZIP shares have rallied more than 50%. This week saw UBS upgrade ZIP to a ‘buy’ with a price target of $1.43 per share.

• Gold shares rallied after the precious metal set a new all-time high of US$2,161 per ounce. That followed remarks to US Congress by Federal Reserve Chief Jerome Powell confirming the central bank plans to start cutting interest rates this year. Some of the winners from this cohort included Westgold (ASX: WGX), Genesis Minerals (ASX: GMD), Perseus Mining (ASX: PRU), Northern Star Resources (ASX: NST), and Evolution Mining (ASX: EVN).

• Magellan Financial Group’s (ASX: MFG) latest funds under management (FUM) update prompted buying support from the market, with MFG shares rising almost 8% on Wednesday. The fund manager reported total FUM increased by $900 million to $37.2 billion, while a net outflow of $200 million was among its smallest results over recent years.

• Days after its share price fell sharply following news of a statutory loss of $636 million, pathology firm Healius (ASX: HLS) gained more than 14% on Tuesday. The company announced a strategic review, while incumbent CFO Paul Anderson stepped up to replace the immediate departure of former CEO Maxine Jaquet.

• A few other mid-to-large-cap shares gaining ground this week were Regis Healthcare (ASX: REG), Iress (ASX: IRE), Johns Lyng (ASX: JLG), and Tabcorp (ASX: TAH)

Which shares dragged on the market?

These shares weighed on the local market across the course of the week:

• Shares in luxury fashion retailer Cettire (ASX: CTT) slumped as much as 25% at one stage following an investigative report by the Financial Review. The media outlet raised questions about the retailer’s customs duties payments. However, Cettire responded by outlining a direct arrangement it has with the Department of Home Affairs to pay duties before goods arrive into the country, paring share price losses.

• After its co-founder, David Dicker, sold approximately 18.3 million shares at a 9.5% discount to the prevailing trading price, Dicker Data (ASX: DDR) shares fell 10% on Wednesday. Mr Dicker sold 10.2% of the company’s issued capital, citing a recent divorce settlement and portfolio restructuring as the reason for the sale.

• Super Retail Group (ASX: SUL) also went backwards this week, but much of that was attributable to the company trading ex-dividend. Shareholders who were on the registry by the record date will be entitled to a fully-franked interim dividend of 32 cents per share, payable April 12 2024.