In afternoon trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to record a small decline. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is down 0.1% to 8,099.5 points.
Four ASX shares that are not letting that hold them back today are listed below. Here's why they are rising:
Bellevue Gold Ltd (ASX: BGL)
The Bellevue Gold share price is up 3% to $1.18. This may have been driven by a bullish broker note out of Goldman Sachs this morning. According to the note, the broker has retained its buy rating on the gold stock with a trimmed price target of $1.70. It said: "Relative to peers, BGL remains relatively underappreciated in our view, trading at of ~0.85x NAV and pricing ~US$1,600/oz LT gold (peer average ~1.15x NAV and ~US$1,940/oz)."
EML Payments Ltd (ASX: EML)
The EML Payments share price is up 5% to 74 cents. This morning, this struggling payments company revealed that it has completed the sale of its European open banking and account-to-account payments business, Sentenial, to payments processing company GoCardless for 32.75 million euros. EML plans to use the proceeds to retire some debt. This will shift its balance sheet from a net debt position of $48 million to a net cash position of $5 million. Management also advised that it has secured a new $70 million debt facility, which gives it access to further liquidity to fund its growth.
Ora Banda Mining Ltd (ASX: OBM)
The Ora Banda Mining share price is up 4% to 58.2 cents. Investors have been buying this gold miner's shares after it released an update on its Drive to 150 Project. This project is aiming to take the company's annual production to between 140,000 ounces and 160,000 ounces in FY 2026. Management advised: "As mining and drilling progresses at Riverina, our confidence is growing that we are only at the very early stages in unlocking what is presenting as a large and high-grade system."
Peninsula Energy Ltd (ASX: PEN)
The Peninsula Energy share price is up 2.5% to 8 cents. This morning, this uranium developer released an update on plant construction and wellfield development activities at the company's flagship Lance Project in Wyoming USA. According to the release, site construction and preparation activities are continuing, with solid progress made throughout August. As a result, it is on track with its planned operational restart in late fourth quarter of 2024.
