In late morning trade the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) looks set to end its positive run. Although it is off its lows, the benchmark index is still down 0.35% to 5,761.4 points.
Four shares that have fallen more than most today are listed below. Here's why they are dropping lower:
The Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price is down 5% to $46.61. Investors appear to be taking profit off the table after some stellar gains over the last few weeks. On Tuesday the Afterpay share price broke through the $50.00 mark for the first time. This strong gain has been driven largely by its impressive sales and customer growth and the arrival of Tencent Holdings as a substantial shareholder. Tencent is the ~US$500 billion company behind the massive WeChat app.
The CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price has dropped 4.5% to $293.21. This is despite there being no news out of the biotherapeutics company. I suspect that investors are taking profit after its shares stormed higher in 2020. Prior to today, they were up approximately 12% year to date.
The Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) share price has fallen over 3.5% to $13.26. Investors have been selling Fortescue's shares today after a pullback in the iron ore price overnight. According to CommSec, iron ore fell by US$2.25 or 2.3% to US$94.60 a tonne after data showed that global steel production fell 13% in April.
The Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) share price is sinking 4.5% lower to $30.42. Investors have been selling Newcrest and the rest of the gold miners after a pullback in the price of the precious metal. Overnight the spot gold price fell by almost 2% after demand for safe haven assets reduced. At the time of writing the S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Gold index is down a sizeable 5.4%.
