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It has been a great day for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) on Thursday. In afternoon trade, the benchmark index has followed Wall Street’s lead and is charging 1.4% higher to 7,151.5 points.

Four ASX shares that have failed to follow the market higher today are listed below. Here’s why they are falling:

Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM)

The Newcrest share price is down 4.5% to $26.88. Investors have been selling this gold miner’s shares following a sizeable pullback in the gold price overnight. This was caused by investors switching back to risk assets after investor sentiment improved. The S&P/ASX All Ords Gold index is down 2.5% at the time of writing.

Nickel Mines Ltd (ASX: NIC)

The Nickel Mines share price is down 14% to $1.20. This decline appears to have been driven by a broker note out of Credit Suisse this morning. According to the note, the broker has downgraded the nickel miner’s shares to a neutral rating and cut its price target to $1.34. It suspects that investor sentiment may suffer due to its relationship with Tsingshan, which was caught up in a massive short squeeze.

Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO)

The Rio Tinto share price is down 7.5% to $110.78. The majority of this decline can be attributed to the mining giant’s shares trading ex-dividend this morning for its enormous $6.63 per share fully franked final dividend. Eligible shareholders can now look forward to being paid this huge dividend next month on 21 April.

Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL)

The Woodside share price is down 5% to $31.59. Investors have been selling Woodside and other energy shares today after oil prices pulled back materially overnight. Traders were selling oil after the UAE and Iraq indicated that they could increase their production to offset supply concerns.

The post Why Newcrest, Nickel Mines, Rio Tinto, and Woodside shares are dropping today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Rio Tinto goes ex-div, tech and travel shares rebound
• Woodside (ASX:WPL) share price tumbles but boss sees ‘a change with us for decades’
• Here’s why the Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) share price is sliding 7% today
• Here’s why the Newcrest (ASX:NCM) share price is in the red today
• Is the Nickel Mines (ASX:NIC) share price chaos a buying opportunity?

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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ASX uranium shares are exploding today on the back of decade-high uranium prices and industry optimism.

Among the stocks leaping higher today are Boss Energy Ltd (ASX: BOE), Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN), Deep Yellow Limited (ASX: DYL), and Vimy Resources Ltd (ASX: VMY).

So why are ASX uranium shares doing so well today?

Uranium price outlook positive

The Boss Energy share price is surging 8% today, Paladin is exploding 14%, Deep Yellow is gaining 7%, and Vimy Resources is soaring nearly 12%.

Uranium prices gained 1.69% in overseas markets overnight, trading economics data reveals. The price of the metal extended its surge above $53 per pound, the highest price since November 2011.

One company boss believes the metal could top $US100 a pound. At the time of writing, uranium is $54.05 per pound.

Vimy CEO Steven Michael told the Financial Review that geopolitical tension and climate change could see the price edge ahead.

Michael said:

There is a real positive sentiment towards not just uranium, but uranium supply from non-Eastern European countries.

Western Europe is going to have to change its reliance on Russian gas, and they’d not want to go back to coal so nuclear plays a really strategic role in that.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden is considering sanctions on Russian uranium supplier, Rosatom Corp, Republic World reports. The White House is reportedly in discussions with the nuclear power industry on the impact of such a ban.

Russia supplies about 10% of global uranium. In the past month, the uranium price has surged by nearly 25%. Over the past year, it has rocketed 95%.

Paladin has advanced the most out of the ASX uranium shares mentioned here. Yesterday, Bell Potter increased the price target on Paladin shares to 96 cents. Currently, the Paladin share price is 88 cents.

ASX uranium share prices

Boss shares have rocketed 1,800% in the past year, while Paladin has soared 114%. The Deep Yellow share price has seen gains of 59%, and Vimy Resources shares have surged 118% in a year.

By comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has returned about 6.5% in the past year.

The post Why are ASX uranium shares having such a stellar day? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why Block, Myer, Paladin Energy, and Qantas shares are storming higher
• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today
• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares this Wednesday
• What a Boss! Why the Boss Energy (ASX:BOE) share price is soaring 13% today
• Paladin Energy (ASX:PDN) share price jumps 9% on broker upgrade

The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is having a pretty pleasing day of trading thus far this Thursday. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 is up a pleasant 1.45% and back over 7,100 points. But that is currently being put to shame by the Block Inc CDI (ASX: SQ2) share price.  

Block shares are currently up a very healthy 8.51% at $153.21 each after losing $141.20 yesterday and opening at $152.05 a share this morning. So what’s behind this rather decisive move upwards that investors have given the new Afterpay owner today? 

Well, there are a number of factors that could be helping to boost investor sentiment. The first is the general good mood of the market. While the ASX 200 is enjoying some healthy gains, most ASX tech shares are rocketing today. Apart from Block’s move, we’ve seen some healthy movements from Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P), Appen Ltd (ASX: APX), Life360 Inc (ASX: 360), Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) and WiseTech Global Inc (ASX: WTC). 

Afterpay, your debt is settled…

This follows similar moves in US tech shares on the American markets last night, particularly on the Nasdaq. That included Block Inc (NYSE: SQ), the company’s primary US listing, jumping more than 11% overnight. Today, the BetaShares Nasdaq 100 ETF (ASX: NDQ), which tracks the Nasdaq Index, has risen 2.84% so far. 

But we’ve also got a Block-specific development today as well. This morning, before market open, Block announced that its Afterpay subsidiary has “redeemed 100% of the principal amount of the A$1.5 billion Zero Coupon Convertible Notes due 2026, as a result of the election of the [holders] to require Afterpay to redeem…”. 

In practice, this essentially means that Block has settled $1.5 billion in debts that Afterpay had taken out prior to Block’s acquisition. The debt was scheduled to expire in 2026, so perhaps investors are happy that it won’t be sitting on Block’s books for that long. 

Whatever the reason for today’s strong move, it will no doubt have pleased many Block shareholders.

Block share price snapshot

Block shares have had a rather wild time of it lately. Although the company is now up more than 32% since 24 February, Block remains down 13.2% since its ASX listing back in January. At the current pricing, Block shares have a market capitalisation of US$64.92 billion. 

The post Why is the Block (ASX:SQ2) share price soaring 8% today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why Block, Myer, Paladin Energy, and Qantas shares are storming higher
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Rio Tinto goes ex-div, tech and travel shares rebound
• Why Argosy Minerals, Block, Core Lithium, and Mineral Resources are storming higher
• Glitch! Why are ASX tech shares getting hammered on Monday?
• Why Block, GQG, Qantas, and Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield are sinking today

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen owns Block, Inc. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Appen Ltd, BETANASDAQ ETF UNITS, Block, Inc., Life360, Inc., WiseTech Global, Xero, and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Appen Ltd, BETANASDAQ ETF UNITS, Block, Inc., WiseTech Global, and Xero. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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In afternoon trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has followed Wall Street’s lead and is charging higher. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is up 1.5% to 7,160.8 points.

Four ASX shares that are climbing more than most today are listed below. Here’s why they are storming higher:

Block Inc (ASX: SQ2)

The Block share price is up 8.5% to $153.24. Investors have been buying this payments giant’s shares on Thursday following a strong gain by its NYSE-listed shares overnight. This appears to have been driven by a rebound in the tech sector after investor sentiment improved.

Myer Holdings Ltd (ASX: MYR)

The Myer share price has jumped almost 20% to 49 cents. This follows the release of the department store operator’s half year results this morning. According to the release, Myer delivered an 8.5% increase in sales to $1,517.4 million and a 55.2% lift in net profit (excluding JobKeeper) to $32.3 million. This allowed Myer to declare its first dividend since FY 2017.

Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN)

The Paladin Energy share price has surged 14% higher to 88 cents. Yesterday this uranium producer’s shares were upgraded to a speculative buy rating with a 96 cents price target by the team at Bell Potter. It commented: “The Uranium price continues to recover from cyclical lows, as limited near-term supply spurs the spot market, whilst the global path to decarbonisation re-shapes the role of nuclear energy over the longer-term.”

Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN)

The Qantas share price is up almost 7% to $4.97. Investors have been buying this airline operator’s shares after a sharp pullback in oil prices overnight. This follows news that Iraq and UAE are open to increasing production to offset lost supply from Russia. Given how much fuel Qantas consumes, this news is a positive for its margins.

The post Why Block, Myer, Paladin Energy, and Qantas shares are storming higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why the Qantas (ASX:QAN) share price is leaping 5% today
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Rio Tinto goes ex-div, tech and travel shares rebound
• Myer (ASX:MYR) share price up 21% amid strong half-year result and first dividend since FY17
• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today
• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares this Wednesday

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Block, Inc. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Block, Inc. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX: FMG) share price has been volatile this year. But is the iron ore miner a buy today?

Whilst Fortescue shares have risen slightly over the past six months, it is actually down 17% in the last month.

What’s going on with the Fortescue share price?

Only the transacting investors know why they trade at higher or lower prices. But commodity businesses often follow the price of that commodity.

Fortescue is one of the world’s largest iron ore miners, so changes in the iron ore price can have a significant impact on the Fortescue share price.

There has a been a recovery from the lows of late 2021. There was a brief dip during February 2022, but the iron ore price has gone back close to the 2022 highs. There is an ongoing market focus on the Russian invasion and inflation.

But results can also have an impact on the Fortescue share price. It was less than a month ago that the company announced its half-year result for the six months to 31 December 2021.

FY22 half-year result

The company reported a 13% decline in revenue after a 16% decline in the average revenue per dry metric tonne of iron ore to US$95.58. The C1 cost increased by 20% to US$15.28 per tonne.

The underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 28% to US$4.76 billion, whilst net profit after tax (NPAT) fell 32% to US$2.78 billion.

However, the company noted that there was a strong operating performance across Fortescue’s supply chain, together with the successful integration of Eliwana, which contributed to record first half iron ore shipments and ore processed.

The miner decided to pay an interim dividend of $0.86 per share, representing a 70% payout of first half NPAT.

Fortescue Future Industries (FFI)

As the operations of FFI get bigger, it could have a bigger influence on the Fortescue share price.

What’s FFI? It’s aiming to take a global leadership position in green energy and green technology, leading the charge to decarbonise hard-to-abate sectors. It’s investing to create a global portfolio of green energy projects to supply 15 million tonnes per year of renewable green hydrogen by 2030.

It has received planning approval from the Queensland Government for the green energy manufacturing centre in Gladstone (Queensland). The first stage development is an electrolyser manufacturing facility with an initial capacity of 2GW per year.

Fortescue Future Industries also recently announced that it had formed a working agreement with Airbus to target a plane that runs on green energy by 2035.

Is the Fortescue share price a buy?

Quite a few brokers actually think that the Fortescue share price is a sell.

Credit Suisse rates it as ‘underperform’ with a price target of just $14 because of the valuation compared to its iron ore mining rivals like BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) and Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO). It also wants more information on FFI.

Morgan Stanley rates the Fortescue share price as ‘underweight’ with a price target of just $13.

Ord Minnett rates the miner as a ‘hold’ but the price target is $21 – more than 10% higher than where it is now.

The post Is the Fortescue (ASX:FMG) share price a buy right now? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Record $36bn in dividends could help ASX share market recovery
• Will the Fortescue (ASX:FMG) share price fly as it links up with Airbus?
• 15% yield! But are these ASX high-yield shares dividend traps?
• WAM boss urges cashed-up ASX 200 companies to buy, invest or pay dividends
• Why is the Fortescue (ASX:FMG) share price having such a stellar start to the week?

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison owns Fortescue Metals Group Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Shares in Race Oncology Ltd (ASX: RAC) are soaring and trading 5% in the green at $2.77 apiece. At one point investors had bid up the share price to $2.99 before it levelled off.

The company’s lead drug compound, Zantrene, is back in the headlines again today. The company has revealed “compelling results” in the final readouts from its clear cell carcinoma preclinical program.

What did Race Oncology announce today?

The biotech company advised that the latest research on Zantrene shows that, on its own and in combination with known kidney cancer drugs, it can kill kidney cancer cells at clinically-relevant concentrations.

“These results support advancing Zantrene into the clinic as a possible new treatment option for advanced kidney cancer patients”, the company said.

Specifically, the company talks about the drug label’s efficacy in clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is the most common type of kidney cancer. It comprises more than 70% of renal tumours.

Whilst ccRCC is still relatively rare, only accounting for approximately 2% of global cancer prevalence and mortality, “it has more than doubled in incidence over the past half-century, and today is the ninth most common cancer in the developed world”, Race Oncology notes.

Treatment prognosis is generally poor compared to many other conditions, so Race’s development comes as a welcome update.

Race Oncology said that findings from the study clearly demonstrate that Zantrene kills ccRCC cells. Not only that, but it also slows the growth of these cells — a testament to its mechanism of action.

Zantrene is even more effective at killing cells when used in combination with other kidney cancer drugs. The strongest combinations were with lenvatinib, cabozantinib and pazopanib.

Race Oncology will now conduct further preclinical studies in order to fully understand the mechanisms involved.

Management commentary

Speaking on the findings, Race Oncology Chief Scientific Officer, Dr Daniel Tillett said:

The results from Prof Verrills laboratory are highly encouraging and supportive of our clinical plans for Zantrene in kidney cancer. Advanced kidney cancer has a large unmet need for improved treatment options and Zantrene
in combination with existing treatments may offer new hope for patients with this devastating disease.

Race Oncology’s Chief Executive Officer, Phillip Lynch added:

We are again pleased to note Zantrene’s effectiveness both in isolation and in combination with other known kidney cancer treatments. This result encourages clinical translation, and we look forward to determining an optimal approach for progressing clinical study.

Race Oncology share price summary

In the past 12 months, the Race Oncology share price has fallen 29%. In 2022 alone, it is down 23%.

The post ‘Compelling results’: Here’s why the Race Oncology (ASX:RAC) share price is rocketing 5% appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why did Race Oncology (ASX:RAC) shares bounce 14% higher on Wednesday?
• Why did the Race Oncology (ASX:RAC) share price drop 10% today?

Motley Fool contributor Zach Bristow has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Economic uncertainty is hanging heavy over consumers, but there are three ASX retail shares that are likely to outperform, according to a top broker.

Never mind the invasion of Ukraine, inflation pressure and the prospect of rising interest rates. This isn’t the time to be avoiding the consumer discretionary sector.

Why some ASX retail shares will outperform in 2022

If anything, ASX retail shares have delivered pretty good profit results last month. Morgans noted that the companies in the sector that it covered delivered earnings that were on average 5.7% above its forecasts.

“In an environment of waning consumer confidence, the winners in the retail space are likely to be those that can achieve profitable growth through the expansion of their network (or digital presence),” said Morgans.

“Or a move into adjacencies that increase the size of their total addressable market.”

The top 3 ASX retail shares to buy in this environment

For this reason, the Lovisa Holdings Ltd (ASX: LOV) share price is among the broker’s top picks for the sector.

Morgans believes the costume jewellery retailer may prove to be one of the biggest success stories in Australian retail.

“With ambitious (and financially wellincentivised) new leadership in place, we think now is the time for LOV to step up to become a global force,” said Morgans.

“Investment will be needed to expand LOV’s network in the US and Europe and to take it into new markets, but the returns could be stellar.”

Cost pressure not a big risk

Another ASX retail share on the broker’s top buy list is the Universal Store Holdings Ltd (ASX: UNI) share price.

The broker believes it has a strong competitive advantage in youth fashion apparel. It is also relatively resilient against rising costs.

“Margins are likely to benefit from the rising proportion of private label products in store as well as, in due course, operating efficiencies from the growth of the network and the launch of a new distribution centre,” said Morgans.

More defensive than most

Finally, the Baby Bunting Group Ltd (ASX: BBN) share price is another on Morgans’ best buy list.

Baby Bunting is the only national specialist baby retailer and it has less than 10% of the $5.1 billion market.

Morgans believes it is well placed to take market share thanks to its strong brand equity. It’s also worth noting that baby products are more defensive than many other consumer goods.

The post Morgans picks its top 3 ASX retail shares to buy today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here’s why the Lovisa (ASX:LOV) share price is sliding 5% today
• 2 quality ASX dividend shares this broker rates as buys
• Lovisa (ASX: LOV) share price falters 10% but brokers still say buy
• Why Morgans rates this ASX lithium share and this retail share as buys
• Here’s why analysts rate these ASX dividend shares as buys

Motley Fool contributor Brendon Lau has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Baby Bunting and Lovisa Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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It’s a common misconception among ASX investors that all exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are index funds. When the ETF first came to the ASX a few decades ago, this was pretty much true. But these days, it most certainly is not. Sure, there are still a plethora of index funds out there. Indeed, the most popular ASX ETFs among investors remain index funds for the most part. But the popularity of active ETFs is also on the rise and investors need to make sure they know the difference.

Tha’s because many of the features that attract investors to index funds are not present in many active ETFs. Active ETFs tend to have significantly higher management fees. They also tend to be far less diversified than traditional index funds.

Active funds are NOT index funds

The primary difference between an active ETF and an index fund is how they invest. An index fund blindly mirrors an index. Thus, it is compelled to invest in whatever its parent index dictates. Most indexes are simple structures that choose their shares based purely on size. For example, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) holds the 200 largest companies on the ASX, ranked by market capitalisation. Thus, the larger companies have a higher weighting in the index than the smaller ones.

Active ETFs on the other hand can be thought of as a rough equivalent to a managed fund. They will typically have a fund manager and a team of analysts that actively choose which shares to include. The difference between a managed fund and an active ETF is simply how the shares, or units, can be bought or sold. A managed fund is typically unlisted, which means investors have to trade units with the fund directly. An active exchange-traded fund allows its units to be traded on the share market instead.

So are active ETFs even worth investing in?

When is an active ETF a good choice?

Chris Meyer, of Pinnacle Investment Management, recently shared some thoughts on this matter for Livewire. Here’s some of what he had to say:

Active ETFs don’t have the same low-cost benefits as passive ETFs, but there are times when paying an active manager to add some human common sense amidst the noise of choppy markets is valuable.

The real enduring benefit of the ETF vehicle (active and passive) to investors, however, is their ease of use. Simply buy and sell them like a share by punching in the ticker into your broking account.

Meyer also argues that the active structure more or less retains the benefits of a managed fund (the “human common sense”, for example), without some of the drawbacks. Those would include the illiquid nature of trading unlisted units, as well as pricing delays that this process inevitably carries with it.

Another benefit, especially relevant to younger investors, is the absence of minimum investment thresholds. It’s not uncommon for a managed fund to have a minimum investment of $20,000 or greater. That obviously puts it out of reach for many investors. But an active ETF’s minimum is the same as buying any other share on the market.

So there are still fundamental differences between active ETFs and index fund ETFs. But Meyer argues that if an investor wants to choose between an active ETF and a managed fund, an active fund could be a better choice for many investors.

The post Are active ASX ETFs worth the extra management fees? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why the Qantas (ASX:QAN) share price is leaping 5% today
• Here’s why the Appen (ASX:APX) share price is up 6% today
• What’s causing the Sezzle (ASX:SZL) share price to sizzle on Thursday?
• Tech-tonic shift? ASX tech shares rally following Nasdaq’s lead
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Rio Tinto goes ex-div, tech and travel shares rebound

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) share price is up 5.3% in early afternoon trade.

Qantas shares closed yesterday at $4.66 and are currently trading for $4.91.

Other S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) travel shares are also helping to boost the index today.

The Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) share price is up 7%; and Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB) shares have gained 4.7%.

The Qantas share price is joining a wider global equities rally that saw the US S&P 500 Index gain 2.6% and Germany’s DAX Index charge 7.9% higher yesterday (overnight Aussie time).

And with travel demand surging, Qantas CEO, Alan Joyce is optimistic about the year ahead.

Travel demand is on the up

Surging travel demand could offer more tailwinds to the Qantas share price.

Speaking at The Australian Financial Review Business Summit on Tuesday, Joyce highlighted the difficult year Qantas underwent in 2021.

With COVID-19 hobbling international and domestic travel throughout much of the year, Joyce said Qantas only had 18% of its total operations running. But now the airline is seeing “a surge in demand”.

Joyce said (quoted by the AFR): “Domestic leisure is up over 100%. With Jetstar for a number of weeks now we’re seeing this really strong demand coming through. We plan to get Jetstar to 120% by the middle of the year.”

As for international markets, Joyce said:

What we’re seeing internationally is when the borders are opening up, we’re getting a massive bill. London is now ahead of the pre-COVID levels. It’s been open since November. We’ve got more demand in London than we had before COVID. In LA more demand than before COVID.

The Qantas boss is thrilled that all state borders have finally reopened, with Western Australia the last state to rejoin the nation.

“The reunification of Australia – who thought that would be a thing? And it’s fantastic. That’s actually what has happened,” he said.

Qantas share price snapshot

Despite today’s bounce, the Qantas share price remains down 4.8% since the opening bell on 4 January. By comparison, the ASX 200 is down 6.1% year to date.

The post Why the Qantas (ASX:QAN) share price is leaping 5% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ASX travel shares rebound despite rising oil prices
• Own Qantas (ASX:QAN) shares? This may be the airline’s next CEO
• Qantas (ASX:QAN) shares have slumped 17% in a month. So how is the airliner responding to rising oil prices?
• Why Block, GQG, Qantas, and Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield are sinking today
• Why is the Qantas (ASX:QAN) share price diving 7% today?

The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Flight Centre Travel Group Limited and Webjet Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) share price is storming higher on Thursday.

In afternoon trade, the artificial intelligence (AI) data services company’s shares are up 3.5% to $7.13.

At one stage, however, the Appen share price was up over 6% to $7.32.

Why is the Appen share price climbing higher?

Investors have been bidding Appen’s shares higher today amid a rebound in the tech sector. For example, at the time of writing, the S&P ASX All Technology index is up a sizeable 3.3%.

This follows a strong night of trade on Wall Street, which saw the tech focused Nasdaq index rise an impressive 3.6%.

Anything else?

Also potentially giving the Appen share price a boost today is news that its Chair, Richard Freudenstein, has been topping up his holding.

According to a change of director’s interest notice, on Tuesday Mr Freudenstein picked up 14,975 shares at an average of $6.6796 per share. This equates to a total consideration of $100,000 and lifts the Chair’s holding by 50% to 44,975 shares.

One broker that is likely to approve of this purchase is Citi. Last month its analysts responded to Appen’s full year results by retaining their buy rating but trimming their price target to $9.15. This is notably higher than where its shares trade today.

The post Here’s why the Appen (ASX:APX) share price is up 6% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Tech-tonic shift? ASX tech shares rally following Nasdaq’s lead
• Glitch! Why are ASX tech shares getting hammered on Monday?
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: AGL rejects new takeover offer, Appen makes strategic investment
• Appen (ASX:APX) share price fails to lift off on strategic investment
• These were the worst performing ASX 200 shares in February

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Appen Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Appen Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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