At the time of writing, the stock is up 2.72% to $1.89. The gain comes despite a continued broader downtrend, with Nufarm shares now down around 20% since the start of 2026.

Let's take a closer look at what was announced.

Strategic deal extended to 2050

According to the release, the company has strengthened its strategic collaboration with BP, expanding an existing agreement focused on biofuels.

The update centres on its Carinata business, which produces a non-food oilseed crop used as a feedstock for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel.

Under the revised terms, the marketing and offtake agreement has been extended to 2050, providing longer-term visibility over demand for Carinata oil.

The deal also supports the expansion of supply, backed by established grower networks and partnerships across multiple regions.

In addition, the agreement includes a funding model linked to milestone progress. This is intended to support ongoing investment in seed development, crop performance, and supply chain scaling.

Focus on scaling biofuels platform

Nufarm is positioning Carinata as a key pillar of its longer-term growth strategy, particularly as demand for lower-emissions fuels continues to build.

It noted that sectors such as aviation and heavy transport are increasingly turning to biofuels, given that they are more difficult to electrify.

Since the original agreement in 2022, the program has expanded beyond Argentina into Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. It has also been introduced in Australia through existing grower and distribution networks.

Management highlighted that the crop can be grown on existing farmland as part of crop rotation systems. This allows farmers to generate additional income while contributing to emissions-reduction goals.

The company also highlighted lifecycle emissions benefits, noting that Carinata-based fuel delivers lower greenhouse gas emissions than traditional fossil fuels.

Shares remain under pressure

Despite the long-term nature of the update, the share price has seen only a small move.

From a technical view, Nufarm shares remain under pressure. The stock is trading closer to the lower end of its recent range, with momentum indicators such as the relative strength index (RSI) sitting in the mid-30s, pointing to weak buying interest.

The broader backdrop also remains challenging. Agricultural input companies have faced softer conditions in recent periods, alongside cost pressures and mixed demand across key markets.

Foolish Takeaway

Today's announcement reinforces Nufarm's strategy to build out its biofuels platform through long-term partnerships and scalable supply chains.

The extended agreement with BP provides improved visibility over future demand and supports continued investment in the Carinata business.

However, the limited response suggests investors are still weighing near-term pressures against longer-term opportunities, particularly given the stock's already heavy 2026 decline.

The post A major long-term deal is lifting this ASX stock today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

In morning trade, the energy giant's shares are down over 2% to $22.86.

Woodside shares fall on CEO exit

Investors have been selling the company's shares today after it announced the shock exit of its CEO.

According to the release, Woodside's CEO, Meg O'Neill, has resigned after accepting the role of CEO of BP Plc (LSE: BP).

The board has appointed Liz Westcott as acting CEO, effective today. The company notes that Westcott is a widely respected senior executive with deep global operational leadership.

Ms Westcott has led Woodside's Australian Operations as executive vice president and chief operating officer Australia since joining Woodside in June 2023.

She was previously chief operating officer at Energy Australia, following a 25-year career at ExxonMobil working in Australia, the United Kingdom and Italy.

Woodside highlights that her career has spanned roles in strategic planning, operations, project management, and safety, technical and commercial leadership.

Speaking about the exit of Ms O'Neill, Woodside's chair, Richard Goyder, congratulated her on her appointment as BP CEO. He said:

The Board's appointment of Meg as CEO in 2021 set the foundation for Woodside's transformational growth over recent years. This strong business performance has been translated into approximately $11 billion in dividends paid to shareholders since 2022, and a growth trajectory which is expected to deliver significant value.

Meg leaves Woodside in a strong position, having led the company through the merger with BHP Petroleum, final investment decision on the Scarborough Energy Project, startup of the Sangomar Project, final investment decision for the Louisiana LNG Project, the Beaumont New Ammonia acquisition, introduction of a number of high quality partners in those projects and continued high performance across Woodside's global operations portfolio.

Goyder was pleased with the appointment of Westcott as acting CEO and believes Woodside is in safe hands. He adds:

Liz's appointment as Acting CEO provides strong continuity for our business and its people. She will lead and work with Woodside's highly capable Executive Leadership Team to continue to execute against Woodside's strategy to deliver shareholder value through disciplined decision-making and operational excellence.

The Board's ongoing focus on CEO succession planning means Woodside is fortunate to have a number of highly qualified internal candidates as we also assess external talent options to ensure the best possible CEO appointment. We are well positioned to conclude this process efficiently with the intention of announcing a permanent appointment in the first quarter of 2026.

Following today's move, Woodside shares are down 8% since the start of the year.

The post Woodside shares tumble on shock CEO exit appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

But Aussies also like to look at other indexes around the world as well. There's the S&P 500 Index (INDEXSP: .INX), and the NASDAQ-100 (INDEXNASDAQ: NDX) indexes for American shares.

And there's also the FTSE 100 Index (INDEXFTSE: UKX). The FTSE 100 measures the performance of the largest 100 companies over in the United Kingdom. It's this latter index that we'll be taking a closer look at today.

The FTSE 100 is an interesting case. Because, unlike the ASX 200, or the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, the FTSE 100 has not yet surpassed its pre-COVID highs.

How has the FTSE 100 performed in 2021 compared to the ASX 200?

So just to recap, the ASX 200 is currently up 10.53% year to date in 2021, including today's movements so far. What of the FTSE 100? Well, the FTSE is currently up 6.03% in 2021 as of today. It's also up 12.18% over the past 12 months, again not quite matching the ASX 200's 21.23% over the same period.

So why this underperformance compared to the ASX 200?

Well, to answer that question, let's check out the shares that make up the majority of the FTA 100's weightings right now. This data comes from BetaShares, the provider of the ASX's only FTSE 100 exchange-traded fund (ETF), the BetaShares FTSE 100 ETF (ASX: F100):

How have FTSE 100 shares performed lately?

Ok, so some interesting observations here. Firstly, you might see some familiar names here with BHP and Rio Tinto. These actually reflect these Australian companies' London listings (they are also both listed over in the United States). So yes, these two companies contribute to the ASX 200, as well as the FTSE 100.

You might also notice the FTSE 100's largest holding is none other than AstraZeneca, a company that most of us would probably be familiar with these days for obvious reasons. AstraZeneca shares have had a rather successful 2021 so far, gaining close to 14% year to date. However, the shares are also still down 3.34% over the past 12 months.

GlaxoSmithKline is also a pharmaceutical company (it's the face behind brands like Panadol). GSK is up slightly year to date, but down 12.3% over the past year.

Other than that, we see the consumer staples giant Unilever here (the company behind Lynx deodorant, Dove soap, Omo washing powder, and Lipton tea). Unilever shares are down more than 9% in 2021 so far, and down more than 13% over the past year.

We also see the oil giants BP and Royal Dutch Shell. Like ASX energy shares, these companies have been struggling over the past year or so. Both are up in 2021 so far but BP remains down over the past 12 months.

We also have a bank in HSBC (which stands for Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation). HSBC shares are up moderately in both 2021 and over the past year.

Rounding it out we have a couple of 'sin stocks' in Diageo and British American Tobacco. Diageo is the giant alcohol company behind famous brands like Johnny Walker, Guinness and Tanqueray. While British American Tobacco makes cigarettes and tobacco products (including the Winfield brand).

Diageo has been a top FTSE 100 performer, putting on gains of almost 18% in 2021 so far, and 21.7% over the past 12 months. British American Tobacco is in the red over both periods.

Foolish takeaway

So it's pretty easy to see where some of the FTSE 100's lacklustre performance has come from in 2021 so far. Unlike the ASX 200, the FTSE 100 is not concentrated heavily on banks and mining companies, although they are present.

Shares like Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) and BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) have done most of the heavy lifting when it comes to the ASX 200's performance this year so far. In contrast, top FTSE shares like AstraZeneca and Unilever have performed far more poorly. As such, we can see what has made both indexes tick in recent times.

Still, every index tends to have its day in the sun, so who knows what the future might hold for both the FTSE 100 and the ASX 200.

The post How is the ASX 200 performing against the FTSE 100 in 2021? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Supermarket giants Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) and Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) have been declared the country's most trusted brands in the latest Roy Morgan rankings.

Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES)'s Bunnings Warehouse came third, with stablemate Kmart not far behind as the seventh most trusted brand.

Privately owned Aldi made it a quinella for retailers, while Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) rounded out the top 5 in a year when it didn't do much flying.

Roy Morgan chief executive Michele Levine noted Coles' rapid ascent in esteem.

"In May last year we reported that Coles was the fastest mover, lifting three rankings," she said.

"During the depths of COVID, our data collected between April and September 2020 reveals that Coles jumped another two rankings to be neck-and-neck with Woolworths in the top two positions."

Despite the banks putting on loan repayment freezes, for the first time no financial institutions made it into the top 10.

The most distrusted brands in Australia

Despite the coronavirus forcing Australians to spend more time at home and on their smartphones and computers, 3 technology companies were labelled the least trustworthy.

Facebook Inc (NASDAQ: FB), Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) and Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) would all feel a bit hard done by, considering the major roles they played in keeping everyone entertained and supplied during lockdowns.

The next 3 least trusted brands had more definitive reasons for their reputations.

Australians continued their love-hate relationship with News Corporation (ASX: NWS) as they distrusted its tabloid journalism but still bought its subscriptions and newspapers in massive numbers.

Coming in at fifth place was AMP Ltd (ASX: AMP) whose share price plunged during the Royal Commission and kept sinking last year through some sexual harassment scandals.

Rounding out the top 6 was Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO), which blew up the historically significant Juukan Gorge site in Western Australia last May.

"Distrust remains the number one risk factor for the nation's companies because it is the toxic element in brand equity. Trust is a brand asset while distrust is a brand liability," said Levine.

"It's clear, then, that distrust should be on the risk register of every publicly listed company in Australia."

The post 4 most trusted ASX companies (and the 4 least trusted) appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

While its tech stocks like the rocketing Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price and Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) share price that have been soundly beating the S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index:^AXJO), oil stocks may replace the tech rally in 2021.

ASX energy stocks have underperformed this year as the oil price crashed. Many are also shunning the sector due to environmental concerns.

ESG investing clashes with ASX energy stocks

The snub that Prime Minister Scott Morrison had to endure at the UN Climate Summit will motivate even more investors to embrace Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) investing.

Even the big banks are getting in on the act with Australia and New Zealand Banking GrpLtd (ASX: ANZ) recently promising not to fund any fossil fuel projects. This coming from an industry that isn't known to have a conscience!

Meanwhile, several high-profile global fund managers, including BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK), are moving away from investing in carbon polluting companies.

Why ASX energy stocks could replace the tech boom

But some experts believe there are undervalued investments in the energy sector, even for ESG conscious investors, reported the Australian Financial Review.

"Oil is still a big part of the index, industrials is still a big part, materials, chemicals, steel, all these things," the AFR quoted Janus Henderson portfolio manager, Tom O'Hara.  

"You're going to have to start owning these things in order to protect your portfolio and deliver performance."

How to pick the best ASX energy stocks for 2021

The point he was making is that one shouldn't paint all energy stocks with the same brush. To do so means missing out on ASX stocks that can deliver outsized returns in 2021.

So how can ESG investors have their cake and eat it? The key here is to look for stocks that are transitioning to a cleaner future or those that are developing lower carbon projects.

European oil and gas giants are moving with the times and bolstering their green credentials. Examples are the Royal Dutch Shell Plc (LON: RDSA) share price, the BP plc (LON: BP) share price and Total SE (EPA: FP) share price.

There are two ASX stocks that also stand out in this regard, reported the AFR. These are the Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) share price and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) share price.

Where value investing meets ESG

Both stocks enjoyed a robust bounce in November as the oil price recovered from the COVID‐19 meltdown. But the WPL share price is still nursing a 33% loss and the STO share price an 18% loss since the start of 2020.

This leaves them plenty of room to rally. Thrown in the fact that there's a limited pool of ESG friendly ASX energy stocks to pick from, chief investment officer at Bell Asset Management, Ned Bell, told the AFR he thinks there could be a scramble in 2021 to snap up such stocks.

The post Why ASX oil stocks could replace the ASX tech boom in 2021 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The mining giant this week revealed its plans to reduce its operational greenhouse gas emissions by at least 30% from 2020 to 2030.

Investor advocacy body Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility (ACCR) stated BHP needs to "go back to the drawing board".

"BHP fails to deliver any meaningful outcomes in terms of actual emissions reduction. It needs to try harder," said ACCR climate director Dan Gocher.

"BHP should be aiming for a 40-60% reduction in all of its emissions by 2030."

While BHP chief executive Mike Henry claimed the targets are in line with the Paris Agreement, the ACCR didn't share that view.

Gocher said "most climate scientists" would also disagree.

"BHP is… cynically using FY2020 as a baseline, rather than a historical, lower number," he said.

"BHP may have finally given up on thermal coal but it and its industry associations are still betting heavily on gas — which is proven to have the same, if not worse emissions than coal once fugitive methane emissions are factored in."

BP did it, so why can't BHP?

The method of reducing emissions was also criticised.

"BHP continues to rely on unproven and horribly expensive carbon capture and storage (CCS) to decarbonise its Scope 3 emissions, rather than simply leaving fossil fuels in the ground."

British energy conglomerate BP plc (LON: BP) promised last month that it would no longer explore for oil and gas in new countries. Gocher said that this showed it's possible.

"Anything less than a commitment from BHP to cap then reduce production of fossil fuels over the coming decade is simply inadequate," he said.

"BHP's US$400 climate investment program hasn't changed since July 2019, and is dwarfed by the $US8 to US$9 billion it was planning to spend on oil and gas projects before the COVID-19 pandemic struck."

BHP also announced that executive remuneration would be tied to the delivery of its climate plan.

"We must focus on what we can control inside our business, and work with others to help them reduce emissions from the things that they can control," Henry said.

"Our actions must be of substance."

The post BHP's climate plan is rubbish: shareholder group appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.