It has been a mixed day of trade for the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) on Thursday.
At lunch the index has given back its early gains and is down almost 0.2% to 5,769 points due partly to a spot of weakness in bank and miningpry shares.
Here's what has been happening on the ASX 200 on Thursday.
BHP shares down 4%.
One of the major drags on the ASX 200 on Thursday has been the BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share price. The mining giant's shares have tumbled over 4% lower today after trading ex-dividend for its fully franked $1.43 per share special dividend. Eligible shareholders will receive this dividend in their nominated accounts on January 30.
Costa shares crushed.
The Costa Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: CGC) share price is down 33% at lunch after the horticulture company released a profit warning this morning. Costa experienced subdued demand for tomatoes, berries, and avocados in December and things have not been much better in January.
Bruce Gordon snaps up more Nine shares.
The Nine Entertainment Co Holdings Ltd (ASX: NEC) share price is up over 4% at lunch after a late announcement on Wednesday revealed that Bruce Gordon has been buying more of the entertainment company's shares. His holding has now increased from 7.76% to 8.88% following the purchase of over 19 million shares over the last seven days.
Orocobre shares up on drilling update.
The Orocobre Limited (ASX: ORE) share price has been a strong performer on Thursday. The lithium miner's shares were up over 4% at one stage after providing a positive update on drilling at its Cauchari operation in Argentina. Phase 3 drilling is now complete and management expects to provide an updated resource estimate in the first quarter of calendar year 2019.
Best and worst performers.
The best performer on the ASX 200 at lunch is the Nine share price, closely followed by the Sims Metal Management Ltd (ASX: SGM) share price which is up 4.5%. Earlier this week Goldman Sachs retained its buy rating on Sims, pointing out that its shares were trading on historical low multiples. Going the other way is of course the Costa Group share price, followed by BHP and takeover target Healius Ltd (ASX: HLS). The latter is down 3.5% at the time of writing.
