In afternoon trade the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has followed the lead of U.S. markets and pushed notably higher. At the time of writing the benchmark index is up 0.6% to 5,796 points.
Four shares that have climbed more than most today are listed below. Here's why they have stormed higher:
The Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX: APT) share price has rebounded 3.5% higher to $5.85. Today's gain could be related to a broker note out of Goldman Sachs this morning in response to yesterday's company update. That note revealed that Goldman has retained its buy rating on the fintech company's shares but reduced the price target on its shares slightly to $7.90. This is still significantly higher than its current share price.
The Brainchip Holdings Ltd (ASX: BRN) share price has jumped 9% to 17.5 cents after the developer of software and hardware accelerated solutions for advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning applications announced a new release of its BrainChip Studio software. The impressive piece of technology allows high-speed object search and facial classification for law enforcement, counter terrorism and intelligence agencies.
The Costa Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: CGC) share price has climbed almost 6% higher to $7.29 despite there being no news out of the horticulture company. I suspect that investors may be predicting that Costa Group could be a winner from China's tariffs on U.S. fruit imports if importers decide to look beyond the U.S. market for produce.
The Synlait Milk Ltd (ASX: SM1) share price is up 3% to $8.67 after the dairy producer announced that it has secured a multi-year lactoferrin supply agreement that will underwrite an investment of $18 million to double the lactoferrin manufacturing capacity at its Dunsandel site. Management thinks the lactoferrin market is an attractive one and expects the expansion to be completed by October 2018.
