In afternoon trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is no course to record a small decline. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is down almost 0.2% to 8,144.3 points.
Four ASX shares that are not letting that hold them back are listed below. Here's why they are rising:
The Dimerix share price is up 4% to 73 cents. This morning, this biopharmaceutical company announced that it has received the initial payment of US$30 million (A$48 million) relating to the license agreement with Amicus Therapeutics. Under the agreement, Amicus has been granted exclusive rights to commercialise DMX-200 for FSGS in the United States. But the payments may not stop there. Dimerix remains eligible for further potential development milestones of up to US$560 million (~A$892 million) for success-based milestone payments, in addition to tiered royalties on US sales.
The Evolution Mining share price is up 6% to $8.59. Investors have been buying Evolution Mining shares today after the gold price charged higher overnight. This was driven by a weaker US dollar and safe haven demand. It isn't just Evolution Mining that is rising today. A good number of ASX gold mining shares are recording strong gains. As a result, the S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Gold index is up 4.6% at the time of writing.
The Inghams share price is up almost 2.5% to $3.58. This follows the release of a trading update from the poultry producer this morning. According to the release, the company has reaffirmed its FY 2025 guidance for Core Poultry Volume growth of -1% to -3% and underlying EBITDA of $236 million to $250 million. Management also revealed that it has substantially covered (>92%), on an annualised basis, the total volume reduction under the new Woolworths supply agreement, with the new business commencing progressively during the second half of 2025.
The Nextdc share price is up over 7% to $13.60. The catalyst for this has been the release of a trading update this morning from the data centre operator. NextDC revealed that after recent customer contract wins, its pro forma contracted utilisation at the end of March had increased by 52MW or 30% to 228MW since 31 December. NextDC CEO Craig Scroggie said: "We are very pleased to have recorded the largest increase in contracted utilisation in the Company's history. The rise of artificial intelligence and high-performance computing is reshaping the data centre industry at speed. Hyperscale customers are scaling AI-native infrastructure at unprecedented levels."
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