The ASX share market saw more volatility this week and a number of ASX shares made headlines.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine is ongoing. Inflation continues to be a key focus for economists.
With this in mind, here are five ASX shares that were key parts of the news:
Race Oncology Ltd (ASX: RAC)
This ASX share is a precision oncology company with a cancer drug called Zantrene.
It announced this week the final results from the clear cell renal cell carcinoma (a dangerous form of kidney cancer) preclinical program.
The research found that Zantrene on its own and in combination with known kidney cancer drugs can kill kidney cancer cells at clinically relevant concentrations. The company said that these results support advancing Zantrene into the clinic as a possible new treatment option for advanced kidney cancer patients.
Nickel Mines Ltd (ASX: NIC)
Nickel Mines describes itself as a globally significant, low-cost producer.
The Nickel Mines share price fell 25% this week.
The ASX share has decided to withdraw its share purchase plan after aiming to raise $18 million, but then receiving applications for $57 million. But after the drop, the board decided to cancel the share purchase plan and return the money to shareholders in full. It confirmed that the proceeds of the share purchase plan are not required for the acquisition of the 70% interest in the Oracle Nickel Project.
Nickel Mines also addressed press speculation regarding a short position in LME nickel held by Tsingshan group and the implications of this for the global nickel markets. Tsingshan assured the company it had no intention of selling any Nickel Mines shares, there had been no change to its undertaking to buy all of the nickel pig iron produced by the company's RKEF operations and it has no impact on the intention to receive Nickel Mines shares in the placement.
Sydney Airport (ASX: SYD)
After many years on the ASX share market, Sydney Airport was removed from the official ASX list on 10 March 2022 after the acquisition of the business by the Sydney Aviation Alliance.
The group that has taken over the airport business are entities associated with AustralianSuper, IFM Australian Infrastructure Fund, QSuper, IFM Global Infrastructure Fund and Global Infrastructure Partners.
St Barbara Ltd (ASX: SBM)
St Barbara is one of the larger gold miners on the ASX with a market capitalisation of more than $1 billion according to the ASX.
Over the week, the St Barbara share price climbed by 16%.
My colleague Brooke Cooper reported on speculation that St Barbara could be a takeover target. On top of that, gold prices have been rising amid all of the global uncertainty.
Myer Holdings Ltd (ASX: MYR)
This week, department store business Myer reported its result for the 26 weeks to 29 January 2022.
It reported "strong" total sales growth of 8.5% to $1.52 billion. Online sales grew much quicker, rising by 47.5% to $424.1 million, representing 27.9% of total sales.
Myer generated an underlying net profit after tax of $32.3 million, an increase of 55.2% if adjusted for jobkeeper.
The company also declared a fully franked dividend of 1.5 cents per share, the first since the FY17 final dividend.
