At noon on Monday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 30.9 points, or 0.44 per cent, to 7063.4, while the broader All Ordinaries was up 35.3 points, or 0.48 per cent, to 7324.1.
Eight of the ASX's 11 official sectors were higher, health care was flat and energy and financials both were down, by 0.7 and 0.4 per cent, respectively.
Nearmap had soared by 26.7 per cent to $1.915 after the aerial mapping company announced it was in exclusive takeover talks with a US private equity firm. Thoma Bravo has made an indicative offer of $2.10 per share, or $1 billion.
GPT Group was up 5.4 per cent to $4.53 after the diversified property owner announced its funds from operation had increased eight per cent to $326.5 million in the six months to June 30, compared to the same period in 2021.
Chief executive officer Bob Johnston said retail sales had recovered to levels above 2019 pre-pandemic levels, there was strong tenant demand for logistics centres, and leasing demand for office space had picked up in the June quarter.
Beach Energy had fallen 12.4 per cent to $1.62 after forecasting production of 20 million to 22.5 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) this fiscal year, compared to the 21.8 million it produced in the 12 months to June 30.
Carsales.com.au was up 4.7 per cent to $22.66 after reporting full-year net profit after tax had risen 23 per cent to $161 million, and predicted "very strong" revenue and profit growth and margin expansion in FY23.
"We continue to see robust levels of demand in all our key markets," said managing director and chief executive Cameron McIntyre.
BlueScope Steel was up 5.6 per cent to $17.84 after reporting net profit after tax had risen 135 per cent to $2.81 billion in the year to June.
"We saw continued strong demand for our steel products and solutions despite recent macroeconomic and geopolitical volatility," said managing director and chief executive Mark Vassella.
JB Hi-Fi was down 1.4 per cent to $44.91 as the retailer reported full-year sales were up 3.5 per cent to $9.23 billion.
In the financial sector, ANZ was flat and the other three big retail banks were down. Westpac was the biggest loser, falling 1.2 per cent to $22.38 after announcing its capital levels fell slightly in the June quarter.
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank fell 9.1 per cent to a one-month low of $9.80 after the regional lender's net profit after tax fell 6.9 per cent to $488.1 million in the 12 months to June.
The heavyweight mining sector was up one per cent, with BHP gaining 0.6 per cent to $39.08, Fortescue Metals climbing 1.4 per cent to $19.21 and Rio Tinto adding 0.8 per cent to $96.13.
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