AU Evening Wrap: Late rally powers ASX 200 to five-week high

The $S&P/ASX 200 (.XJO.AU)$ overcame early weakness to advance 35 points or 0.52 per cent. The index traded in the red for most of the session before pushing ahead in afternoon trade.

The big four high-street banks led the turnaround, joining a rally in tech, consumer and healthcare stocks. The energy sector fell after disappointing trading updates from $Woodside Energy Group Ltd (WDS.AU)$ and $Santos Ltd (STO.AU)$.

Growth stocks led for a second day. $Novonix (NVX.AU)$ climbed 11.66 per cent, $City Chic Collective Ltd (CCX.AU)$ 7.3 per cent and $BrainChip Holdings Ltd (BRN.AU)$ 6.71 per cent.

Biopharma $Telix Pharmaceuticals Ltd (TLX.AU)$ jumped 20.65 per cent on news sales of its prostate cancer imaging product increased more than tenfold last quarter. Global sales of Illuccix jumped to $22.5 million from $1.9 million the previous quarter as the product went on sale in the US.

A recent recovery in $Zip Co Ltd (ZIP.AU)$ continued with a rise of 16.54 per cent after the BNPL firm reported a 27 per cent increase in quarterly revenues year-on-year. Transaction numbers were 37 per cent ahead of the prior corresponding period.

An increase in $Woodside Energy Group Ltd (WDS.AU)$'s cost forecast helped pull the share price down 4.39 per cent. The energy giant raised its expected annual capital expenditure to US$4.3-$4.8 billion from previous guidance of US$3.8-$4.2 billion.

$Santos Ltd (STO.AU)$ eased 1.89 per cent after reporting a slight dip in second-quarter production due to a field decline and planned maintenance outages. First-half revenues were a record US$3.8 billion, an increase of 85 per cent.