In afternoon trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to start the week with a decline. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is down 0.3% to 6,454.5 points.
Four ASX shares that are not letting that hold them back are listed below. Here's why they are pushing higher:
Mesoblast limited (ASX: MSB)
The Mesoblast share price is up almost 8% to 84 cents. Investors have been buying this biotech company's shares after it confirmed the submission of substantial new information on clinical and potency assay items to the FDA. This is for items identified by the regulator for its remestemcel-L product in the treatment of children with steroid-refractory acute graft versus host disease.
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (ASX: URW)
The Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield share price is up over 4% to $3.20. This has been driven by news that the shopping centre operator has completed the sale of the Villeneuve 2 centre in the Lille region of France to Ceetrus. This means that the company has now completed 3.2 billion euros of disposals, representing 80% of its 4 billion euros European disposal programme.
Widgie Nickel Ltd (ASX: WIN)
The Widgie Nickel share price is up 28% to 30 cents. This follows the announcement of a major lithium discovery from the company's Mt Edwards project. Management commented: "This initial reconnaissance work identifying high grade spodumene over a significant strike length couldn't be a better outcome for Widgie."
Yancoal Australia Ltd (ASX: YAL)
The Yancoal share price is up 2% to $5.78. This morning this coal miner announced that it will make a major debt repayment. Yancoal advised that it intends to prepay US$1.0 billion of debt from available cash on 4 October. This consists of payment toward Yancoal's Syndicated Facility and its unsecured related-party loans. This is expected to deliver an approximate US$207 million reduction in total finance cost over the loan periods.
