In afternoon trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to end the week with a small decline. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is down 0.1% to 8,579.7 points.
Four ASX shares that are not letting that hold them back are listed below. Here's why they are rising today:
The IGO share price is up 1.5% to $4.59. This may have been driven by a broker note out of Macquarie this morning. According to the note, the broker has reaffirmed its outperform rating and $4.50 price target on this lithium miner's shares. It said: "Retain Outperform for both PLS and IGO, and we note increased share price volatility. We see IGO as a relative safe haven while PLS offers strong leverage to Li prices."
The Johns Lyng share price is up 22% to $3.87. This morning, this insurance building and restoration services company accepted a $4.00 per share takeover offer from Pacific Equity Partners (PEP). This values Johns Lyng at approximately $1.1 billion. Commenting on the takeover agreement, Johns Lyng's chair, Peter Nash, said: "We are pleased that PEP has recognised the value of JLG's integrated building services operations across Australia, New Zealand and the United States. The Scheme is an attractive transaction that provides JLG Shareholders with the opportunity to receive cash at a material premium."
The Lynas Rare Earths share price is up almost 19% to $9.84. This follows news that the US Defense Department will become the largest shareholder in rare earth miner MP Materials (NYSE: MP). According to CNBC, the government has agreed to buy US$400 million of its preferred stock. MP Materials is the owner of the only operational rare earth mine in the United States at Mountain Pass, California. Proceeds will reportedly be used to expand its rare earths processing capacity and magnet production.
The Web Travel share price is up 3% to $4.76. This appears to have been driven by the release of a broker note out of Macquarie. This morning, the broker has retained its outperform rating and $6.19 price target on travel technology company's shares. This follows news that US travel volumes have been better than feared. In addition, it was pleased to see that hotel demand in Europe has been solid.
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