The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on track to record a strong gain. In afternoon trade, the benchmark index is up 0.85% to 7,346.5 points.
Four ASX shares that are climbing more than most today are listed below. Here's why they are racing higher:
Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)
The Appen share price is up 13% to $3.02. A number of beaten down ASX tech shares are charging notably higher today. This follows a strong night of trade for tech stocks on Wall Street after the US Federal Reserve hinted that supersized interest rate hikes could now be a thing of the past.
Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN)
The Evolution Mining share price is up 6.5% to $2.86. Investors have been piling back into the gold miners on Thursday thanks to the aforementioned comments out of the US Federal Reserve. Investors appears to believe that interest rates won't rise as much as previously feared, which would bode well for the gold price. The S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Gold index is up 4.1% this afternoon.
Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX: RIO)
The Rio Tinto share price is up almost 3.5% to $113.37. This follows the release of a strategy update from the mining giant this morning. That update also came with guidance for FY 2023, which includes Pilbara iron ore shipments (100% basis) of 320Mt to 335Mt. This is flat on the original guidance it provided for FY 2022. Looking further ahead, management believes the energy transition could add as much as 25% in new demand above traditional sources on a copper equivalent basis by 2035.
Xero Limited (ASX: XRO)
The Xero share price is up 6% to $74.97. This appears to have been driven by a strong session for tech shares and the release of a bullish broker note out of Citi. In respect to the latter, the broker has retained its buy rating and $97.90 price target on the cloud accounting platform provider's shares.
