In afternoon trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has followed Wall Street's lead and dropped deep into the red. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is down 1.3% to 6,986 points.
Four ASX shares that are not letting that hold them back today are listed below. Here's why they are rising:
ARB Corporation Ltd (ASX: ARB)
The ARB share price is up almost 3% to $30.16. This follows the release of a trading update at the 4×4 auto parts company's annual general meeting. During the first quarter, the company reported a modest 0.7% increase in sales but a decent 10% lift in profit after tax thanks to margin improvements.
Nick Scali Limited (ASX: NCK)
The Nick Scali share price is up 1.5% to $10.56. This has also been driven by the release of an annual general meeting update. The furniture retailer revealed that it currently expects to report a net profit after tax of $40 million to $42 million for the first half. While this is down sharply from $60.6 million in the first half of FY 2023, it appears to be better than some were expecting.
Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST)
The Northern Star share price is up 4.5% to $12. Investors have been buying this gold miner's shares following the release of its quarterly update. Northern Star reported gold sold of 369,000 ounces with an all-in sustaining cost of A$1,939 per ounce. Management believes this leaves it "well positioned to deliver FY24 guidance."
Weebit Nano Ltd (ASX: WBT)
The Weebit Nano share price is up 11% to $3.45. This morning, this semiconductor company announced a commercial agreement with South Korea foundry DB HiTek. It has licensed the company's memory technology, Weebit ReRAM, for its customers to integrate as embedded non-volatile memory in their systems on chips. However, management warned that the "economic materiality of this agreement is not known at this time due to the contingent nature of the license fees and royalties."
