In afternoon trade the S&P/ASX 200 index has given back a good portion of its morning gains but remains on course to finish the day in positive territory. At the time of writing the index is up 0.15% to 6,488.1 points.
Four shares that are climbing more than most today are listed below. Here's why they have raced higher:
The Althea Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: AGH) share price is up over 5% to $1.02 following the release of a patient update. According to the release, the cannabis company had a record-breaking month in July with 334 new patients added. Pleasingly, the strong patient additions have continued in August, with the company averaging more than 19 patients per business day so far. As a result, 1,523 patients have now been prescribed Althea medicinal cannabis products in Australia and 245 healthcare professionals have prescribed its products.
The Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) share price has climbed over 5% to $13.30. The gold miner's shares have raced higher after the gold price continued its ascent and neared the symbolic US$1,500 an ounce mark. Northern Star isn't the only gold miner on the rise, the S&P/ASX All Ords Gold index is up over 4% this afternoon.
The Opthea Ltd (ASX: OPT) share price has returned from its trading halt and rocketed 131% higher to $2.02 following the release of a very positive update by the developer of novel biologic therapies for the treatment of eye diseases. Opthea revealed positive Phase 2b results for its OPT-302 combination therapy. According to the release, OPT-302 (2.0 mg) combination therapy showed statistical superiority for the most accepted and sensitive primary efficacy outcome – mean visual acuity.
The Suncorp Group Ltd (ASX: SUN) share price has stormed almost 5% higher to $13.33. This morning the insurance and banking giant released its full year results and reported a 1.5% increase in cash profit of $1,115 million. This was just ahead of the market's expectations. In addition to this, the company surprised the market by declaring a 39 cents per share special dividend.
