The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has followed Wall Street's lead and is charging higher. In afternoon trade, the benchmark index is up 0.9% to 8,700.8 points.
Four ASX shares that are rising more than most today are listed below. Here's why they are climbing:
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DroneShield Ltd (ASX: DRO)
The DroneShield share price is up 8% to $3.01. This has been driven by the release of an update this morning on the counter drone technology company's independent review into its continuous disclosure and securities trading policies and other areas. One change that has been announced is the establishment of a mandatory minimum shareholding policy (MSP) for all directors and members of senior management. Directors will be expected to hold ordinary shares in the company equivalent in value to their annual base fee. Whereas the CEO will be expected to hold shares in the company equivalent in value to 200% of their annual salary.
Meteoric Resources NL (ASX: MEI)
The Meteoric Resources share price is up 32% to 18.5 cents. This morning, this rare earths developer revealed that it has received a preliminary environmental licence (LP) for its Caldeira Rare Earth Ionic Clay Project in Brazil. This marks a crucial step in its development. The company's managing director, Stuart Gale, said: "We are very pleased to have obtained the LP without restriction. This is strong validation for the Caldeira Project and allows us to quickly move to the next stage of the licensing process to obtain the LI for construction of the Project."
Nextdc Ltd (ASX: NXT)
The Nextdc share price is up 7.5% to $12.84. This morning, this data centre operator revealed another jump in contracted utilisation following further customer contract wins. This means that the company's pro forma contracted utilisation has increased by 96MW or 30% to 412MW since its last update on 1 December. As a result of these customer contract wins, the company's pro-forma forward order book has now increased to 301MW.
Nick Scali Limited (ASX: NCK)
The Nick Scali share price is up 10% to $23.26. Investors have been buying this furniture retailer's shares following the release of a trading update. The company revealed that its first half revenue for Australia and New Zealand is expected to be 10% to 12% more than the previous year. This is an upgrade to its previous guidance range of 7% to 9%. As a result, statutory net profit after tax for first half of FY 2026 is expected to be in the range of $37 million to $39 million. This is up from its guidance range of $33 million to $35 million.
