In afternoon trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on track to record a strong gain. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is up 1.3% to 7,373.9 points.
Four ASX shares that are climbing more than most today are listed below. Here's why they are charging higher:
Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT)
The Beach share price is up 3.5% to $1.63. Investors have been buying this energy producer's shares following a strong rise in oil prices. Concerns that the EU may ban Russian oil led to oil prices jumping 7% overnight. The good news for Beach and other energy shares is that prices have continued to climb during Asian trade.
BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP)
The BHP share price is up 4.5% to $48.62. Investors have been buying the Big Australian's shares following a solid night of trade for a number of commodities. It isn't just BHP that is climbing today. The S&P/ASX 200 Resources index is up a solid 3.4% at the time of writing.
New Hope Corporation Limited (ASX: NHC)
The New Hope share price has stormed 6% higher to $3.11. The catalyst for this was the release of the coal miner's half year results this morning. Thanks largely to sky high coal prices, New Hope delivered a 153% increase in revenue to $1,025 million and a 582% jump in underlying EBITDA to $554.4 million. This allowed the New Hope board to increase its fully franked interim dividend by 325% to 17 cents per share and declare a fully franked 13 cents per share special dividend.
ResApp Health Ltd (ASX: RAP)
The ResApp share price has rocketed 43% to 8.9 cents. This follows the release of positive results from its cough audio-based COVID-19 screening test. The digital health company advised that its test, which operates through a regular smartphone, correctly detected the virus in 92% of infected participants.
