The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is back on form and charging higher on Wednesday. In afternoon trade, the benchmark index is up 0.75% to 7,315.4 points.
Four ASX shares that are climbing more than most today are listed below. Here's why they are charging higher:
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Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT)
The Afterpay share price is up 4% to $119.51. This appears to have been driven by a solid night of trade on the tech-heavy Nasdaq index following the softening of bond yields. It isn't just the Afterpay share price pushing higher. The S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) is up a sizeable 2.3% at the time of writing.
Challenger Ltd (ASX: CGF)
The Challenger share price has jumped 8% to $5.93. Investors have been buying the annuities company's shares after it announced a new major shareholder. This follows the signing of an agreement by US-based retirement services company Athene to acquire a 15% minority interest in Challenger from Caledonia (Private) Investments. Athene paid $6.00 per share, which represents a premium of 9.7% to Challenger's last close price.
Mydeal.ComAu Pty Ltd (ASX: MYD)
The MyDeal share price is up 7% to 68.5 cents. Investors have been buying the ecommerce company's shares following the release of its full year sales update. According to the release, MyDeal achieved gross sales of $218.1 million for the 12 months ended 30 June. This represents a 111.1% increase over the prior corresponding period. Management advised that this was driven by an 83.1% increase in customer numbers to 894,225.
St Barbara Ltd (ASX: SBM)
The St Barbara share price is up 3% to $1.90. This appears to have been driven by a rise in the gold price overnight. This follows the easing of bond yields on Tuesday night, which has given the precious metal and gold miners a boost. At the time of writing, the S&P/ASX All Ords Gold index is up 1.35%.
