In afternoon trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to end the day deep in the red. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is down 1.5% to 6,705.4 points.
Four ASX shares that are not letting that hold them back are listed below. Here's why they are pushing higher:
Air New Zealand Limited (ASX: AIZ)
The Air New Zealand share price is up almost 8% to 64 cents. Investors have been buying this airline operator's shares following the release of a trading update. Air New Zealand revealed that it is currently running at 70% of pre-pandemic capacity. In light of this, the company projects earnings before taxes and other significant items to be in the range of NZ$200 million to NZ$275 million for the first half of FY 2023.
Cronos Australia Ltd (ASX: CAU)
The Cronos Australia share price is up 10% to 61.5 cents. This follows the release of an update on the cannabis company's CanView 2.0 platform. According to the release, the six-stage rollout of the platform continues with stage one and two now delivered. It also advised that there are 800 doctors using the platform in Australia, which represents just 3% of its addressable market.
Viva Energy Group Ltd (ASX: VEA)
The Viva Energy share price is up 4% to $2.74. Investors have been buying this fuel retailer's shares after it announced the $300 million purchase of the Coles Express business from Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL). The transaction will see Viva Energy own and operate the 710 Coles Express sites currently operated by Coles.
Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL)
The Soul Patts share price is up almost 5% to $27.01. This follows the release of the conglomerate's full year results. Soul Patts reported a 154.4% increase in profit to $834.6 million. This allowed the company to declare a fully franked final ordinary dividend of 43 cents per share and a 15 cents per share special dividend.
