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%.

More reading

• 3 easy rules for building a massive ASX share portfolio
• Where to invest $5,000 in ASX 200 shares today
• 3 quality ASX 200 blue chip shares to buy right now
• Why these 3 ASX 200 tech shares offer great value
• 3 timeless investing lessons from 2020 (so far!)

James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of CSL Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

The post Why Afterpay, CSL, Fortescue, & Newcrest shares are dropping lower appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.

from Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/2ZC8a8h

In morning trade the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to give back some of yesterday’s gains. At the time of writing the benchmark index is down 0.45% to 5,754.3 points.

Four shares that have not let that hold them back are listed below. Here’s why they are racing higher:

The ALS Ltd (ASX: ALQ) share price is up almost 2.5% to $7.21 after the release of its full year results. This morning the testing services company reported a 10% increase in revenue to $1,831.9 million and a 4.3% lift in underlying net profit to $188.8 million (both from continuing operations). The latter was in line with its guidance range. ALS was confident enough in its outlook and balance sheet to declare a final dividend of 6.1 cents per share.

The Metcash Limited (ASX: MTS) share price is up 2% to $2.69. This appears to have been driven by a broker note out of UBS this morning. According to the note, the broker has upgraded Metcash’s shares to a buy rating with a $2.85 price target. It likes Metcash because of the strength of the grocery channel and the improving outlook for the hardware channel.

The National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) share price has jumped a further 5% to $17.47. The big four banks are on fire again on Wednesday. Investors continue to pile in on the belief that they were oversold during the pandemic. Especially given Australia’s quicker than expected reopening, which looks set to lessen the economic damage.

The Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX: PBH) share price has stormed 8% higher to $5.48. Investors have been buying the sports betting company’s shares after the release of a trading update. That update revealed that its Australian business has achieved a net win of $18.2 million for the period 1 April to 25 May. This has been driven by a shift in gambling online following the closure of retail venues.

More reading

• Why the NAB share price is surging higher today
• Why the PointsBet share price is on a winning streak this morning
• How much money should you have in your emergency fund going forwards?
• Where to invest $5,000 in ASX 200 shares today
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday

James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Pointsbet Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Pointsbet Holdings Ltd. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

The post Why ALS, Metcash, NAB, & Pointsbet shares are racing higher appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.

from Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3gut9Qy