In afternoon trade the S&P/ASX 200 index is on course to finish the week on a very positive note. At the time of writing the benchmark index is up 1.3% to 6,778.7 points.
Four shares that are climbing more than most on Friday are listed below. Here's why they are racing higher:
The Nearmap Ltd (ASX: NEA) share price is up over 3% to $2.59. This follows a strong night of trade for the technology-focused Nasdaq index. Overnight the Nasdaq stormed 1.3% higher. And as the local tech sector has a tendency to follow the lead of their U.S. counterparts, Nearmap and co. are enjoying a solid day of trade. The S&P/ASX 200 Info Tech index is up 2.3% at the time of writing.
The News Corp (ASX: NWS) share price has climbed almost 4% to $21.36. This follows reports that one of its shareholders, L1 Capital, believes there could be upside of 50% to its current share price. One broker that is also bullish on News Corp is Goldman Sachs. It has the media company's shares on its conviction buy list with a $26.80 price target.
The Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) share price is up 3% to $11.60. This morning the gold mining giant announced the completion of its Super Pit acquisition. Northern Star paid a total of US$800 million to Newmont Goldcorp Corporation and will now co-own the highly rated gold mine with Saracen Mineral Holdings Limited (ASX: SAR). A lift in the gold price is also contributing to today's gains.
The REA Group Limited (ASX: REA) share price has continued its positive run and is up a further 3% to $108.25. Investors have been buying the property listings company's shares this week following the release of the latest CoreLogic house price data. That release reveals that the Corelogic National Index rose a sizeable 4% during the December quarter. A key highlight was Sydney house prices which jumped 6.2% in the final quarter.
