The Boss Energy Ltd (ASX: BOE) share price has taken a tumble over the last fortnight despite no news having been released by the uranium producer.

The company’s stock is dipping alongside the price of uranium. The commodity’s spot price peaked 2 weeks ago today and has been falling since.

In a similar pattern, Boss Energy’s shares hit a new 52-week high of 58 cents on 16 September. In fact, over the 30 days ended 17 September, Boss Energy’s stock gained a massive 150%.

However, Boss Energy’s stock’s value has fallen 30.88% over the last fortnight.

At the time of writing, the Boss Energy share price is 24 cents, having gained 2.1% so far.

Let’s take a look at what’s been driving Boss Energy’s stock down lately.

Why is the Boss share price falling?

The Boss Energy share price is dipping as uranium’s day in the sun seemingly comes to a close.

The uranium spot price reached US$50.80 – its highest price since 2013 – on 17 September.

Uranium’s surge seemed to have been spurred by Canadian Fund, Sprott Physical Uranium Trust. The trust has been snapping up huge amounts of the commodity off the spot market.

Additionally, as the Wall Street Journal reported, nuclear energy, of which uranium is the key, might have a part to play in decarbonisation.

The commodity could have been boosted by the same influences that saw copper, nickel, and lithium prices surge recently.

Unfortunately, since the spot price of uranium peaked on 17 September, its bullish run has seemingly ended. It has since fallen 18% to US$43.

The Boss Energy share price isn’t the only uranium-focused stock that’s been dipping over the last 14 days.

Those of fellow uranium explorers Deep Yellow Limited (ASX: DYL) and Peninsula Energy Ltd (ASX: PEN) have fallen comparable amounts over the last 2 weeks.

The post Why has the Boss Energy (ASX:BOE) share price tanked 30% in 2 weeks? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• How did ASX uranium shares perform in September?
• A sea of red for ASX uranium shares. Is the run over?
• Are ASX uranium shares fully valued?
• Why the Boss Energy (ASX:BOE) share price is tanking 18% today
• Why ASX uranium shares are diving double-digits on Monday

Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper has no position in any of the stocks mentioned.

The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The ASX share market is struggling today as the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) seals its first monthly decline since September 2020.

It appears Wall Street has paved the way for today’s sharp decline, with its major indices opening slightly higher before fading heavily by market close.

The S&P 500 Index (SP: .INX), Dow Jones Industrial Average Index (DJX: .DJI) and Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: .IXIC) all closed near session lows, down 1.19%, 1.59% and 0.44% respectively.

At the time of writing, the ASX 200 is down 2.11% at 7177 points. Let’s look at some of the factors that might be weighing the market down today.

Why the ASX share market is struggling to bounce

Interest rate hikes on the horizon

The US Federal Reserve signalled last week that it may begin raising the benchmark interest rate in late 2022.

Equity markets, more notably tech and richly valued growth shares have thrived under ultra-low interest rates.

With potential looming interest rate hikes on the horizon, investors have been quick to rotate away from these sectors.

In the last week, the S&P/ASX Information Technology (INDEXASX: XIJ) and S&P/ASX Health Care (INDEXASX: XHJ) have logged hefty declines, tumbling 6.41% and 6.09% respectively.

Iron ore woes continue

ASX 200 iron ore heavyweights BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX: FMG) and Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) have weighed on the broader commodities sector as iron ore plunged from May all-time highs of US$230 a tonne to around US$120 a tonne this week.

The iron ore majors continue to bleed amidst weak economic data from China, with all three iron ore majors falling between 2.4% and 3.5% on Friday.

Lending indicators plateau

Australia’s lending indicators for new borrower-accepted finance commitments for housing doubled between March 2020 lows and June 2021.

But the once bullish lending indicators might have hit a near-term top with the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) signalling a broad pullback in new loan commitments.

New borrower-accept loan commitments for housing declined 4.3% month-on-month while personal fixed-term loans also declined 2.5%.

This might also be a reason why the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price has plunged 4.29% to $98.85 at the time of writing.

The post What is weighing the ASX share market down today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why has the Boss Energy (ASX:BOE) share price tanked 30% in 2 weeks?
• Why the Virgin Money UK (ASX:VUK) share price is sinking 6% today
• The Flight Centre (ASX:FLT) share price is in the green today. Here’s why
• NIB (ASX:NHF) share price struggles as despite big profits in FY21
• Why is the Li-S Energy (ASX:LIS) share price sliding 9% today?

Motley Fool contributor Kerry Sun has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Virgin Money UK CDI (ASX: VUK) share price has been a particularly poor performer on Friday.

In afternoon trade, the UK bank’s shares are down 6% to $3.79.

Why is the Virgin Money UK share price tumbling?

There appear to have been a couple of catalysts for the weakness in the Virgin Money UK share price on Friday.

One is broad market weakness, which is being felt more than most in the banking sector. For example, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price is down 4% at the time of writing.

Another potential catalyst for the Virgin Money UK share price weakness could be the release of an announcement after the market close on Thursday.

What did Virgin Money UK announce?

According to the release, Virgin Money UK has decided to accelerate its digital strategy in order to enable greater efficiency and drive up levels of digitisation across the bank. This is with the aim of further developing a strong, scalable platform for future growth.

This plan is going to come at a cost, though. The release explains that restructuring charges for FY 2021 are now expected to be ~GBP145 million in total with an additional ~GBP45 million booked in the fourth quarter.

Where do the new charges come from?

Part of the strategy will see the bank close almost a fifth of its branches in the coming months. Virgin Money UK has identified 31 stores out of the 162 in its network which will be closed. This is expected to cost ~GBP25 million.

The bank will also be embracing the work from home initiative. This will result in lower office space requirements, with infrastructure and office hubs re-purposed to fit new ways of working.

After applying valuation adjustments and including other operating model changes, the bank expects to incur a ~GBP20 million restructuring charge in the fourth quarter from these changes.

However, management believes these costs will be worth it in the long run.

It explained: “The Group’s digital strategy will further develop a strong, scalable platform for future growth. In the near term, cost savings from improved productivity delivered by Virgin Money UK’s digital initiatives will be reinvested into the business to further accelerate the pace of platform development. Virgin Money UK will also leverage the capabilities of its key strategic partnerships, such as those announced with Global Payments and Capita, to deliver additional features and differentiated propositions for customers.”

The Virgin Money UK share price is up 61% in 2021 despite recent weakness.

The post Why the Virgin Money UK (ASX:VUK) share price is sinking 6% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Gold miners jump, Pro Medicus wins contract
• Why is the ASX share market down today?
• Which ASX 300 shares are making headlines on Thursday?
• ASX quarterly rebalance: A2 Milk dumped from ASX 50, Nuix kicked out of ASX 200

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) share price is currently up as international borders may reportedly open sooner than expected. That compares to the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) which is currently down around 2.2%.

What’s happening with international borders?

It is being reported across the major media outlets, such as the Australian Financial Review, that Prime Minister Scott Morrison is going to announce that international travel is soon going to open up for fully vaccinated Aussies.

The reporting says that Australians will be able to leave Australia. People stuck in other countries will also be able to return easier.

However, this is only when the double vaccination rate of 80% has been reached. The international borders will lift on a state by state basis when that region reaches its own 80% level. NSW and ACT are expected to be the first two places to reach the required vaccination rate to allow international travel.

The plan is that the international border is going to be open before Christmas. Part of the plan could include arrivals going through home quarantine rather than hotel quarantine.

The Flight Centre share price is still down almost 40% from the pre-COVID level, so international travel may have its part to play in a recovery.

Not all state leaders have signed up to the international travel plan just yet.

The Guardian quoted Queensland Premier Ms Palaszczuk from her news conference, she said:

I’m not going to agree to anything when I haven’t seen any formal paperwork. It would be irresponsible and I think that Queenslanders would expect me to see some paperwork, to understand the issues before an announcement is made. So it’s a bit disappointing that we haven’t been given that due courtesy before National Cabinet.

What I’ve said clearly and Dr Young has said this and the Health Minister has said this. We need to be in a situation where every eligible person, so every eligible person in that cohort is offered a vaccine.

How is Flight Centre’s profit going?

There wasn’t a profit in FY21. It made an underlying loss of $507 million, with almost $4 billion of total transaction value (TTV).

However, it did say that the recovery is gaining momentum, particularly in the corporate sector and in the US. In its FY21 result, it said that it was seeing month-on-month sales revenue growth despite lockdown and heavy restrictions, ending with a COVID-period record in June 2021.

By the year end, corporate TTV was tracking at 40% of pre-COVID levels globally.

Flight Centre is targeting a return to monthly profitability in both corporate and leisure during FY22. The company is looking to the resumption of further global international travel, with a potential material benefit from the trans-Atlantic route opening.

Its profitability hopes rely on vaccination efficacy, governments reopening borders and keeping them open.

Is the Flight Centre share price a buy?

Citi isn’t sure that it is, with a neutral rating and a price target of $16.94. That suggests the broker thinks Flight Centre shares could fall around 20% over the next 12 months.

Whilst Citi is expecting Flight Centre to benefit from the travel recovery, it doesn’t think the old Flight Centre model will be as effective.

The post The Flight Centre (ASX:FLT) share price is in the green today. Here’s why appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why the Webjet (ASX:WEB) share price is on the rise today
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Gold miners jump, Pro Medicus wins contract
• These were the 5 best performing ASX 200 shares in September
• These were the 5 worst performing ASX 200 shares in September
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Flight Centre Travel Group Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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