After a bright start to the day the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has faded and dropped into the red. In afternoon trade the index is down 0.3% to 6,088 points.
Four shares that have defied the market and pushed higher today are listed below. Here's why they are climbing higher:
The A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M) share price has pushed 2% higher to $10.76. The infant formula and dairy company's shares were higher in earlier trade but have faded as the day went on. Investors initially appeared to respond positively to a broker note out of Goldman Sachs declaring the company a buy with a $12.70 price target. News of a broker downgrade by Citi in the AFR may be weighing on sentiment this afternoon.
The Galaxy Resources Limited (ASX: GXY) share price has raced 7% higher to $3.33 despite there being no news out of the lithium miner. Almost all lithium miners have pushed higher today after Kidman Resources Ltd (ASX: KDR) announced that it had signed an offtake agreement with Elon Musk's Tesla, Inc. The agreement is a take or pay agreement for less than 25% of Kidman's expected production and lasts for three years. Tesla has two options to extend the agreement by a further three years.
The Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) share price has climbed 2% to $86.38. This follows solid gains for the mining giant's UK-listed shares overnight and was further supported by rising base metal prices and a positive broker note out of Macquarie. According to the note, the broker has retained its outperform rating and $93.00 price target on Rio Tinto's shares.
The Sigma Healthcare Ltd (ASX: SIG) share price is up almost 3% to 74 cents. Investors appear to have responded positively to the pharmacy operator and distributor's annual general meeting yesterday. Management confirmed its target of delivering on its EBIT guidance of around $90 million in FY 2019.
