In afternoon trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to record a small gain. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is up 0.3% to 6,665.3 points.
Four ASX shares that have climbed more than most today are listed below. Here's why they are pushing higher:
Atlantic Lithium Ltd (ASX: A11)
The Atlantic Lithium share price is up 2.5% to 61.5 cents. Investors have been buying this lithium developer's shares after it announced the submission of the mining licence application for the Ewoyaa Lithium Mine in Ghana. If everything goes to plan, Ewoyaa will be the country's first lithium mine.
ELMO Software Ltd (ASX: ELO)
The ELMO share price is up 29% to $3.13. This follows confirmation that the human resources and payroll software company is in takeover talks. ELMO notes that it has received approaches expressing interest in acquiring the company from various parties, including Accel-KKR. However, no agreement has been reached in relation to any transaction.
Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN)
The Qantas share price is up 10% to $5.68. The catalyst for this was the release of a market update this morning. That update reveals that Qantas expects to report an underlying profit before tax of $1.2 billion to $1.3 billion for the first half of FY 2023. Qantas also expects its net debt to fall to between $3.2 billion and $3.4 billion at 31 December, which is below the bottom of the target range of $3.9 billion.
Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC)
The Westpac share price is up 3% to $23.08. This morning analysts at Goldman Sachs reiterated their bullish view on this banking giant following the release of a rival's full year results. It said: "We would particularly highlight our Buy recommendation (on CL) on WBC, whose year-to-date consensus NIM upgrades have significantly lagged peers."
