The AGL Energy Ltd (ASX: AGL) share price closed lower on Wednesday. However, market onlookers are likely more concerned with what may lie ahead amid a tornado of developments.

At the final bell, shares in the energy retailer stood a little lower than where they finished up yesterday. Nursing a minor loss, AGL shares ticked down 2.3% to $6.87, taking the share price fall to 12.4% over the past month.

There’s a fair chance shareholders have grown anxious as rumblings turn into unravellings. On Monday, we reported on the company’s significant management overhaul. This included the exit of former chair Peter Botten AC, non-executive director Diane Smith-Gander AO. Additionally, CEO Graeme Hunt will bow out at the end of the month.

So, what is next on the cards for AGL?

Next steps to be revealed

The next significant item awaiting AGL shareholders is the company’s strategy day later this month. This is when the new-look management team will disclose the findings of its strategic review. In addition, investors will receive more detail on AGL’s FY23 earnings guidance.

Notably, the news could act as a major catalyst for the AGL share price. Albeit, that will be dependent on how it compares to expectations. Speaking of which, Barrenjoey analyst Dale Koenders is eyeing $269 million in net profits after tax (NPAT) to be guided for FY23.

This forecast was shared alongside the analyst’s upgrade to AGL, improving to neutral ahead of the update. However, Koenders caveated this with the belief of near-term risk and further headwinds.

On the positive side, the Barrenjoey analyst is optimistic shareholders could see an earnings recovery in FY25. Given weight to these claims, the team noted an expected benefit as the company rolls over to more attractive contract terms.

Regarding what might be discussed at the strategy day, Koenders said:

We expect the narrative of the strategy will focus on accelerating coal closure, investing significant capital in renewables, and an increase focus on customer engagement and Virtual Power Plants

What could weigh on the AGL share price?

Perhaps AGL’s management team wouldn’t put it quite this way, but Mike Cannon-Brookes has been loitering since becoming a substantial shareholder. Already, the newly elected chair, Patricia McKenzie, has had to field dissatisfaction with her placement from the tech entrepreneur’s Grok Ventures.

The venture capital arm kicked off by Cannon-Brookes highlighted that they want ‘fresh thinking’. Whereas, McKenzie was a part of a board that pitched the plans to separate AGL into two — a highly unpopular concept to Grok.

Instead, Cannon-Brookes wants AGL to reinvent itself with a greater emphasise on renewables. However, Koenders points out that this could be a risk to the AGL share price, saying:

The risk is that the narrative again underwhelms but highlights capital limitations and possible equity requirements to fund the transition.

The AGL share price is up nearly 9% year-to-date.

The post What’s next for AGL shares following the company’s latest shake-up? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• AGL share price dips following changing of the guard
• AGL share price slides amid shareholder revolt
• What’s going on with the AGL share price today?
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
• The AGL share price has tumbled 16% in a month. What’s next?

Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler 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 Scott Phillips.

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Three ASX lithium shares outperformed the selloff seen in the materials sector and the broader market on Wednesday.

The S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ) closed the day 2.64% lower while the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) finished down 1.56%.

Most of these companies have made significant announcements amid their shares becoming buoyant over the past week.

Let’s cover which companies defied the market today.

Argosy Minerals Limited (ASX: AGY)

The Argosy Minerals share price closed 9.26% higher today. Although the company made no announcements today, or even recently, the Fool put the spotlight on the company earlier this month.

Argosy Minerals was included in a roundup of companies involved in graphite production, an emerging rival to lithium for its role in creating batteries. The company’s graphite production at its site in Namibia is currently stalled, pending review and funding opportunities.

Then on 5 September, the Fool reported Argosy Minerals made it into the S&P/ASX 300 Index (ASX: XKO) due to changes in the company’s market capitalisation.

Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)

Pilbara’s share price ended the day 1.02% ahead. There were no company announcements on Wednesday but yesterday, Macquarie analysts retained Pilbara’s outperform rating. They nominated a $5.60 price target for its shares, an appreciable 12.9% upside.

The impetus for Macquarie holding Pilbara’s outperform rating was said to be positive results posted from its battery metals exchange (BMX) auction. In September, Pilbara accepted a bid of US$6,988 per dry metric tonne for its lithium. That’s well up from the US$6,188 per dry metric tonne offer it received in July.

My Fool colleague James notes “this strong pricing appears to demonstrate that the insatiable demand for lithium is not cooling despite concerns about the potential for a global recession in the coming months”.

EV Resources Ltd (ASX: EVR)

Finally, the EV Resources share price finished flat today after carrying gains of 3.57% for most of the day. Shares lifted amid the company reporting it has discovered high-grade samples from its Christina tin-tungsten project in central Morocco.

On 8 September, it announced it had found high-grade lithium samples at its Austrian lithium projects. The samples taken reportedly tested for up to a 3.24% purity of lithium oxide.

EV Resources also has another horse in the race for lithium with a memorandum of understanding signed with Yahua International Investment and Development to supply spodumene concentrate.

The post These three ASX lithium shares defied Wednesday’s selloff appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Wednesday
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• Pilbara Minerals share price hits record high following lithium auction
• Pilbara Minerals share price on watch following BMX lithium auction
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday

Motley Fool contributor Matthew Farley 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 Scott Phillips.

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Perhaps rather surprisingly, the BrainChip Holdings Ltd (ASX: BRN) share price had a healthy day of gains during Wednesday’s trading session. This ASX All Ords share closed the day up a robust 2.82% at its intraday high of 91 cents a share.

It’s surprising because, in stark contrast, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) had an absolute shocker, falling by a nasty 1.54%, just over 6,920 points.

It’s unclear why BrainChip shares had such a strong showing today. There wasn’t any news or announcements out of the ASX artificial intelligence company whatsoever.

But BrainChip has become an ASX share of interest for many investors in recent years. That’s probably thanks to the astronomical gains we saw from this company at the start of the year. On 31 December 2021, BrainChip was asking just 68 cents per share.

But by late January, the company’s share price had rocketed as high as $2.34 – the reigning record high. That was a gain of more than 200% in just a few weeks, certainly enough to draw some attention from investors. Since then, however, the story has been a far less lucrative one.

BrainChip is now down more than 60% from those January highs at the current pricing. But in saying that, BrainChip shares are still up a healthy 12.66% year to date in 2022.

With these eye-catching moves, many investors might be wondering if there are some dividend returns to enjoy from BrainChip shares as well. So do BrainChip shares pay dividends?

Where are BrainChip’s dividends?

Well, the answer to that question is short, but not so sweet: no. BrainChip does not currently pay a dividend. Nor has it ever.

If a company wishes to fund dividend payments, it usually must first be profitable. Doling out cash on dividends would usually be a highly irresponsible action for a company that is losing money on its bottom line.

And with BrainChip, we can see that this company is not even close to being consistently profitable. As my Fool colleague Matthew covered, BrainChip last month reported its half-year earnings for FY22.

This saw BrainChip declare an operating loss of US$8.56 million for the six months to 30 June 2022, down 1% year on year. That works out to be a loss per share of 46 US cents, or 66 cents in our currency.

So if you want a reason why BrainChip doesn’t fund dividend payments, look no further than those metrics.

Now, there’s nothing inherently wrong with a company posting a loss. Many growth shares run losses for years while they build up scale. And in those same earnings, BrainChip did announce revenues of US$4.83 million, up a healthy 529% year on year.

But until BrainChip starts making consistent profits on its bottom line, investors shouldn’t hold their breath for any dividend income.

The post Do BrainChip shares pay dividends? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why is the BrainChip share price lagging the ASX 200 on Monday?
• Why are ASX 200 tech shares being hit the hardest on Wednesday?
• Why is the BrainChip share price sinking 8% on Wednesday?
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Have BrainChip shares been a good investment so far in 2022?

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen 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 Scott Phillips.

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If you’re looking to boost your income portfolio this week, then you may want to look at the shares listed below.

Here’s why these ASX dividend shares could be worth considering right now:

Elders Ltd (ASX: ELD)

The first ASX dividend share for income investors to consider is Elders. It is one of the leading agribusiness companies in the ANZ region.

The team at Goldman Sachs is very positive on the company and has a buy rating and $21.00 price target on its shares.

The broker likes Elders due to its “strong track record; good industry structure; potential for positive earnings surprise; and an attractive valuation.”

Goldman is also expecting some attractive dividends yields in the coming years. It is forecasting dividends per share of 50 cents in FY 2022 and 53 cents in FY 2023. Based on the current Elders share price of $12.51, this implies attractive yields of 4% and 4.2%, respectively.

South32 Ltd (ASX: S32)

Another ASX dividend share that could be a top option for income investors is South32.

It is a mining giant with operations covering a range of commodities such as aluminium, coal, copper, manganese, and nickel. Many of these commodities are used in electric vehicles, which puts the company in a good position to benefit from the electric vehicle boom.

Morgans is a fan of the company and has an add rating and $5.50 price target on its shares. The broker likes South32 due to its attractive valuation, the de-risking of its growth portfolio, and its earnings-linked dividend policy.

It is expecting the latter to support some very big dividends in the coming years. Morgans is forecasting fully franked dividends per share of 29.4 cents in FY 2023 and 22.4 cents in FY 2024. Based on the current South32 share price of $3.90, this will mean yields of 7.5% and 5.75%, respectively.

The post Experts name 2 ASX dividend shares for income investors to buy appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Morgan Stanley just boosted its outlook for aluminium. Here’s which ASX shares have exposure
• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Thursday
• Why Lake, Pushpay, South32, and Tyro shares are dropping
• Why a leading fund manager rates these 2 ASX 200 mining shares as buys
• Why is the South32 share price sinking 7%?

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 recommended Elders Limited. 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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If you’re not keen on stock picking, then exchange traded funds (ETFs) could be a good alternative.

This is because ETFs allow investors to buy large groups of shares through a single investment.

But which ETFs should you look at? Listed below are three quality ETFs that could be worth considering. Here’s what you need to know:

BetaShares Global Banks ETF (ASX: BNKS)

If you’re interested in gaining exposure to the banking sector as rates rise, then the BetaShares Global Banks ETF could be the way to do it. This ETF gives investors exposure to many of the world’s largest banks such as Bank of America, Barclays, Citigroup, HSBC, JPMorgan and Wells Fargo. It doesn’t, however, include Australian banks. So, if you’re looking to buy them, you may need to look for an Australian bank-focused ETF.

iShares Global Consumer Staples ETF (ASX: IXI)

One thing the share market isn’t short of right now is uncertainty. With rates rising rapidly across the globe, investors are bracing themselves for a potential global recession. Whether one comes or not is hard to say, but one thing we can say is that whatever happens in the economy the companies included in the iShares Global Consumer Staples ETF are likely to remain well-placed to navigate the crisis. That’s because this ETF gives investors exposure to many of the world’s largest global consumer staples companies such as Coca-Cola, Nestle, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Unilever, and Walmart. Demand for these types of products is relatively consistent whatever is happening in the economy.

iShares S&P 500 ETF (ASX: IVV)

Finally, if you’re looking for a quick way to diversify your portfolio then you could consider the iShares S&P 500 ETF. This popular ETF gives investors access to 500 of the top listed U.S. companies. This means you’ll be buying a slice of companies such as Amazon, Apple, Disney, Facebook, JP Morgan, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Tesla, and Visa.

The post 3 quality ETFs for ASX investors to buy now appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• What does Warren Buffett think about investing in ETFs?
• 3 excellent ETFs for beginner investors to buy
• 3 wonderful ETFs for ASX investors to buy today
• Does the iShares S&P 500 ETF (IVV) pay dividends?
• 3 fantastic ETFs for ASX investors to buy today

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 positions in and has recommended BetaShares Global Banks ETF – Currency Hedged. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended iShares Global Consumer Staples ETF. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended iShares Trust – iShares Core S&P 500 ETF. 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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As an investor, you’re always on the lookout for companies that have demonstrated sustainable growth. It’s no different when it comes to exchange-traded funds (ETFs), such as Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (ASX: VAS), and their dividends.

With a mouth-watering yield of around 7.4%, you naturally wonder whether the ETF — which seeks to track the S&P/ASX 300 Index (ASX: XKO) — produces consistent distribution growth.

Let’s take a look at the data to see if we can answer that question.

Wild ride for income seekers

As many would know, the Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF has been one of the most popular dividend-paying ETFs in Australia for many years now. Its simple and low-cost way of gaining exposure to some of the largest publically traded companies makes it a staple among passive investors.

It probably doesn’t come as a surprise that this investment option boasts a considerable payout. Topping the holdings list are dividend titans such as BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), Commonwealth Bank of Australia Ltd (ASX: CBA), and CSL Limited (ASX: CSL).

In the last 12-month period, the ASX-listed VAS ETF has poured out a monumental $6.26 per unit in distributions to holders. That is an almost unbelievable 2.7 times increase compared to the amount paid out to holders in the previous annual window. So, we can certainly say the payments have increased.

However, investors reliant on the income might have had a hard time stomaching the reduction witnessed in FY20 and FY21, as shown above. Though, we should keep in mind that most dividend payers struggled to maintain their payments during this unprecedented time.

Furthermore, the massive resurgence in annual distributions comes amid record dividends from the likes of miners and oil and gas shares.

What’s next for ASX Vanguard (VAS) ETF?

No one can predict whether Vanguard’s VAS ETF will continue with wild variations in payments or begin to provide steady dividend growth. In fact, not even Vanguard has much of a say over this. The ETF is a proxy for the top ASX 300 shares, which will determine their own future dividends.

Although, what we do know is the next quarterly distribution will come with an ex-dividend date of 1 October. For the payment to grow year on year, it will need to be greater than $1.407 per unit.

The post Is the Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (VAS) dividend growing? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Why making your first purchase of ASX shares can be scary
• The Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF just took a big hit. What happened?
• Why is the Vanguard ASX 300 ETF (VAS) so popular among investors?
• Is the VAS ETF a good way to get started with investing?
• Could these ASX ETFs soon play a bigger role in Aussie super funds?

Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler has positions in Commonwealth Bank of Australia. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended CSL Ltd. 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 Scott Phillips.

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In afternoon trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to end the day deep in the red. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is down 1.5% to 6,705.4 points.

Four ASX shares that are not letting that hold them back are listed below. Here’s why they are pushing higher:

Air New Zealand Limited (ASX: AIZ)

The Air New Zealand share price is up almost 8% to 64 cents. Investors have been buying this airline operator’s shares following the release of a trading update. Air New Zealand revealed that it is currently running at 70% of pre-pandemic capacity. In light of this, the company projects earnings before taxes and other significant items to be in the range of NZ$200 million to NZ$275 million for the first half of FY 2023.

Cronos Australia Ltd (ASX: CAU)

The Cronos Australia share price is up 10% to 61.5 cents. This follows the release of an update on the cannabis company’s CanView 2.0 platform. According to the release, the six-stage rollout of the platform continues with stage one and two now delivered. It also advised that there are 800 doctors using the platform in Australia, which represents just 3% of its addressable market.

Viva Energy Group Ltd (ASX: VEA)

The Viva Energy share price is up 4% to $2.74. Investors have been buying this fuel retailer’s shares after it announced the $300 million purchase of the Coles Express business from Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL). The transaction will see Viva Energy own and operate the 710 Coles Express sites currently operated by Coles.

Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL)

The Soul Patts share price is up almost 5% to $27.01. This follows the release of the conglomerate’s full year results. Soul Patts reported a 154.4% increase in profit to $834.6 million. This allowed the company to declare a fully franked final ordinary dividend of 43 cents per share and a 15 cents per share special dividend.

The post Why Air New Zealand, Cronos, Soul Patts, and Viva Energy shares are pushing higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• 3 ASX 200 shares paying out ‘special’ dividends in 2022
• Soul Patts share price jumps 5% on FY22 results
• Air New Zealand share price soars 9% on guidance update
• Viva Energy share price leaps 5% on Coles acquisition
• Brickworks share price edges higher on $746 million profit result

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 positions in and has recommended Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended COLESGROUP DEF SET and Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. 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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Three ASX mining shares are beating gains made by some of their sector peers on Wednesday.

The S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ) is doing poorly today, down 2.45% at the time of writing. Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is also struggling, losing 1.53% loss so far today.

Yet the share prices of these ASX mining stocks are up 6% or more this afternoon. Let’s cover their recent developments.

Far East Gold Ltd (ASX: FEG)

Far East Gold is a copper and gold exploration company. Its shares are up 6.67% to 72 cents each in late afternoon trading. There’s no news from Far East today, but yesterday the company announced it had started drilling at its Woyla Copper-Gold Project in Aceh Province, Indonesia.

The Woyla Project was explored by two companies, Barrick and Newcrest. In the 25 years that the project has been around, no other company has been able to do as much exploration and drilling on the tenement.

The company notes this is the first time drilling has commenced at the site and that it further de-risks the project.

Lanthanein Resources Ltd (ASX: LNR)

Lanthanein Resources is a mineral exploration company recording gains of 8.7% in late afternoon trade. Again, there are no announcements from the company today to make sense of the surge in the share price.

In fact, the most recent announcement from the company was posted on Friday last week. The company updated the market on its maiden drilling at its Lyons Prospect in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia.

Drilling is targetting high-grade rare earth elements (REE). Thirteen out of the total 30 holes have been drilled at depths of 1,068 metres. Analysis of the drilled materials for composition and quality was said to be underway.

Drilling at the site began on 12 September.

Artemis Resources Ltd (ASX: ARV)

Finally, Artemis Resources is a gold and copper explorer. Its shares are up 14.29% at the time of writing. The company’s most recent announcement was posted on 13 September, identifying a large copper-nickel system at its Chapman project in Western Australia.

Eleven holes were drilled to a depth of 3,011.3 metres.

Artemis Resources executive director Alastair Clayton commented on the finding:

Intersecting broad shallow zones of continuous copper and nickel at Chapman is encouraging, especially as these mineralised zones appear to be related to the margins of regional gabbros and related structures. Drilling at Chapman undertaken in 2021 intersected high-grade copper mineralisation over a wide interval. We look forward to refining and developing additional targets to further explore this ~1km long prospective trend.

The post 3 ASX mining shares absolutely slaying the market today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• 5 ASX shares that could rocket from a rare earths crisis: expert

Motley Fool contributor Matthew Farley 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 Scott Phillips.

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It’s been a big year so far for S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) dividends, and there are still plenty of extra special offerings to come.

According to analysis by CommSec, ASX 200 shares declared more than $78 billion worth of dividends over the course of this year’s February and August earnings season.

But one particular type of offering has been the talk of the ASX town this week. And that is special dividends.

Special dividends are one-off cash payouts offered to shareholders. They are normally larger than a company’s routine dividends and allow it to return excess cash to shareholders.

Thus, they often follow an event that brings in extra cash, like an asset sale or a particularly profitable period.

So, which ASX 200 shares are declaring special dividends in 2022? Keep reading to find out.

3 ASX 200 shares paying out special dividends

Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS)

ASX 200 telco giant Telstra offered investors a 1-cent special dividend for each share held on top of its 7.5 cent final dividend for financial year 2022.

The offering marks the end of the nbn one-off related special dividend, given the nbn rollout is complete. The telco met its commitment to pay out around 75% of all one-off nbn receipts to shareholders.

Telstra paid out its latest dividend today.

New Hope Corporation Limited (ASX: NHC)

ASX 200 coal miner New Hope declared a 25-cent special dividend earlier this week. That brings the company’s upcoming payout to 56 cents – a 700% increase on last year’s final dividend.

The special dividend was announced alongside news the company’s net profit after tax (NPAT) jumped more than 1,110% to $983 million over the 12 months ended 31 July 2022.

Washington H Soul Pattinson and Co Ltd (ASX: SOL)

Soul Patts is also paying out a special dividend this year.

The ASX 200 investment house – which holds a near-40% stake in New Hope – revealed a 15-cent per share special dividend, on top of a 72-cent per share final dividend, this morning.

The company’s chair Robert Millner commented on the offering, saying:

Over the last 20 years, the [Soul Patts] dividend has increased every year and grown at a compound average growth rate of 8.5%.

The board is also pleased to be able to pay a special dividend as a result of the very strong cash generation by New Hope in the current environment.

The post 3 ASX 200 shares paying out ‘special’ dividends in 2022 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• The Telstra dividend is being paid today. Here’s the latest
• Dividend beasts: 5 ASX shares with monster yields and no debt
• Soul Patts share price jumps 5% on FY22 results
• Looking to buy ASX shares? Expert reveals ‘one metric to assess the quality of a business’
• Macquarie tips even more upside for New Hope share price

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 positions in and has recommended Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Telstra Corporation Limited and Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. 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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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has followed the lead of US markets and is on course to end the day deep in the red. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is down 1.6% to 6,699.2 points.

Four ASX shares that are falling more than most today are listed below. Here’s why they are dropping:

Imugene Limited (ASX: IMU)

The Imugene share price is down 12% to 20.3 cents. This is despite the immuno-oncology company announcing that its Phase 1 MAST (metastatic advanced solid tumours) study evaluating the safety of novel cancer-killing virus CF33-hNIS (VAXINIA) has seen the first patient dosed as part of intravenous cohort 1 in the trial.

Link Administration Holdings Ltd (ASX: LNK)

The Link share price is down over 4% to $3.29. Investors have been selling this administration services company’s shares after the proposed takeover by Dye & Durham took another step towards collapsing. This morning Link advised that the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has hit it with a 50 million pounds (A$85 million) penalty for the Woodford investigation. This is on top of the restitution payment of approximately 306.1 million pounds (A$520 million).

Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM)

The Newcrest share price is down 2.5% to $16.71. Investors appear concerned that the gold price could come under pressure if the US Federal Reserve makes a big increase to interest rates this week. It isn’t just Newcrest that is falling today. The S&P/ASX All Ords Gold index is down 2.5% at the time of writing.

Zip Co Ltd (ASX: ZIP)

The Zip share price is down 6.5% to 72.5 cents. Investors have been selling Zip’s shares despite there being no news out of the buy now pay later provider. However, it is worth noting that the tech sector is a sea of red today following a broad market selloff.

The post Why Imugene, Link, Newcrest, and Zip shares are dropping appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Link share price sinks again amid takeover doubts
• Guess how many companies in the ASX 300 actually make no money
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Why Clinuvel, EML, Infomedia, and Link shares are dropping today
• The ASX 200 is getting a shakeup today. Here’s the tea

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 positions in and has recommended Link Administration Holdings Ltd and ZIPCOLTD FPO. 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 Scott Phillips.

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