In afternoon trade the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has defied declines on Wall Street to push higher. At the time of writing the benchmark index is up 0.2% to 6,188.9 points.
Four shares climbing more than most today are listed below. Here's why they are ending the week with a bang:
The Carsales.Com Ltd (ASX: CAR) share price has climbed 3% to $14.52 after being the subject of two positive broker notes this morning. Both Citi and Credit Suisse have upgraded the car listings company's shares to the equivalent of buy ratings due to their belief that it will benefit from depth advertisement growth. Citi has lifted its price target on Carsales' shares to $16.65, whereas Credit Suisse has a $16.00 price target on its shares.
The Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) share price is up almost 2.5% to $51.44. With no news out of the company, today's increase also appears to be related to a broker note. A note out of Ord Minnett reveals that its analysts have retained their buy rating and lifted the price target on the travel agent's shares to $65.27. The broker believes that the recent selloff of Flight Centre's shares has been overdone.
The St Barbara Ltd (ASX: SBM) share price has jumped over 5.5% to $3.68. This gold miner has also found favour with brokers today. Both Deutsche Bank and Macquarie have retained their equivalent of buy ratings on the company's shares following yesterday's production update. Overall, both brokers appear pleased with St Barbara's third quarter production, except for a slight miss from its Gwalia operation.
The Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL) share price has risen 4% to $28.08 despite there being no news out of the investment house. At one point today the company's shares stormed to an all-time high of $28.34. That meant its shares had risen over 76% since this time last year.
