The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on form again on Wednesday. In afternoon trade, the benchmark index is up 1% to 7,025 points.
Four ASX shares that are climbing more than most today are listed below. Here's why they are rising:
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New Hope Corporation Limited (ASX: NHC)
The New Hope share price is up 5% to $5.60. Investors have been buying this coal miner's shares since the release of its strong half-year result, which revealed that New Hope doubled its net profit after tax to $668.6 million. This allowed the company to lift its interim dividend by 76% to 30 cents per share and declare a special 10 cents per share dividend.
Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)
The Pilbara Minerals share price is up 3% to $3.62. This follows a strong night of trade for lithium miners on Wall Street. In addition, this morning, Macquarie retained its outperform rating on the company's shares with a slightly trimmed price target of $7.50. It remains positive on the lithium industry despite price headwinds.
Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC)
The Westpac share price is up 1.5% to $21.72. This appears to have been driven by improving investor sentiment in the banking sector Goldman Sachs remains positive and believes the Australian banking sector is healthy. It also named Westpac as its top pick among the big four and has a price target of $27.74.
Zip Co Ltd (ASX: ZIP)
The Zip share price is up almost 6% to 50.7 cents. This is despite there being no news out of the buy now pay later provider. However, it is worth noting that a number of tech shares are outperforming today following a solid night of trade on the tech-focused Nasdaq index.
