Why are these ASX tech shares getting smashed today?

It’s been a great start to the week for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) and most ASX 200 shares so far this Monday. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 has gained a pleasing 0.89% and is back up to around 7,840 points. But let’s talk about a few ASX tech shares that are going the other way.

Not all ASX 200 shares are getting lifted by today’s market goodwill. Take the Block Inc (ASX: SQ2) share price. It’s currently down a chunky 2.64% at $124.76 a share.

It’s been even worse for Life360 Inc (ASX: 360) shareholders. Life360 shares are presently nursing a loss of 3.72% and have fallen to $13.19 a share.

The strange thing is that these two ASX tech shares seem to be outliers, not only on the broader ASX, but in their tech sector. ASX tech shares are, on the whole, having just as good a time as the ASX 200 Index.

Right now, the S&P/ASX 200 Information Technology Index (ASX: XIJ) is up a rosy 1.3%. And other tech stocks like Xero Ltd (ASX: XRO) and WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC) are enjoying comfortable rises.

So what’s going wrong with these two shares in particular?

Why are these ASX tech shares getting sold off this Monday?

Well, there’s no fresh ASX news out of either of these tech shares this Monday. Or indeed for a while.

However, you might notice that both Life360 and Block have something in common.

Both are US shares with secondary ASX listings. Block’s primary home is the New York Stock Exchange under the Block Inc (NYSE: SQ) listing.

Life360 calls the ASX home, and isn’t listed on the American markets, despite an aborted attempt to establish a Nasdaq listing last year. However, this company is still headquartered and based in the United States.

Last Friday’s trading on the tech-heavy Nasdaq saw many US tech stocks take a haircut. Tech shares like PayPal, Microsoft and Tesla were all down during Friday night’s trading. That also included Block’s US shares.

Block stock crashed a meaningful 3.9% last Friday down to US$80.77 a share. This might have been due to some large sales from institutional investors.

So this probably explains why Block’s ASX listing is suffering today. Both investments represent the same shares of the same company, so what happens on the US markets is almost always the largest deciding factor as to how the ASX shares fare the following session.

Perhaps Life360 investors are just making the company guilty by association here.

So all in all, a good day for most ASX 200 shares today, but not for these two ASX tech outliers.

The post Why are these ASX tech shares getting smashed today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has positions in Microsoft, PayPal and Tesla. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Block, Life360, Microsoft, PayPal, Tesla, WiseTech Global, and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft, short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft, and short March 2024 $67.50 calls on PayPal. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Block, WiseTech Global, and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended PayPal. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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