The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) tumbled for a second consecutive session today to close under 6,900 points for the first time in six weeks. The index closed Thursday’s trade 2.02% lower at 6,845.60 points.

It came as a number of shares including Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES), Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW), and Blackmores Ltd (ASX: BKL) traded ex-dividend.

But it wasn’t all bad. The S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Staples Index (ASX: XSJ) closed in the green, having gained 1%.  

Today’s worst-performing sector was the S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ), tumbling 4.8%. It was weighed down by the market’s largest participant, BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), which plummeted 7.6% as it traded ex-dividend.

It also followed a bad night for base metals, with all majors except nickel dropping. Meanwhile, gold futures slipped 0.6% to US$1,726.20 an ounce and iron ore futures lifted 0.3% to US$104.76 a tonne.

All in all, only one of the ASX 200’s 11 sectors closed higher on Thursday. But which share outperformed all others? Keep reading to find out.

Top 10 ASX 200 shares countdown

The A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M) share price recorded the biggest gain of the ASX 200 today, lifting 2.7%. Find out more about what the company has been up to lately here.

Today’s biggest gains were made by these ASX shares:

ASX-listed company	Share price	Price change
A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M)	$5.70	2.7%
Endeavour Group Ltd (ASX: EDV)	$7.46	2.61%
New Hope Corporation Limited (ASX: NHC)	$5.00	2.04%
Lottery Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLC)	$4.51	2.04%
Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL)	$17.77	1.2%
Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW)	$36.42	0.91%
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corp Ltd (ASX: FPH)	$17.66	0.86%
Metcash Limited (ASX: MTS)	$4.15	0.73%
Elders Ltd (ASX: ELD)	$11.66	0.69%
Ansell Limited (ASX: ANN)	$26.75	0.6%

Our top 10 ASX 200 shares countdown is a recurring end-of-day summary to let you know which companies were making big moves on the day. Check in at Fool.com.au after the weekday market closes to see which stocks make the countdown.

The post Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Is the Endeavour share price a bargain after its big tumble in August?
• Why Coles, Fisher & Paykel, New Hope, and Nitro shares are rising
• 3 ASX 200 shares defying today’s sell-off to surge higher
• How did ASX 200 dividend shares stack up in August?
• Hoping to bag the boosted Coles dividend? Here’s what you need to do

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 positions in and has recommended COLESGROUP DEF SET and Wesfarmers Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended A2 Milk, Ansell Ltd., Blackmores Limited, and 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 want to build a balanced portfolio, having a few blue chip ASX 200 shares could be a smart move.

But with so many to choose from on the Australian share market, it can be hard to decide which ones to buy ahead of others.

To narrow things down for you, I have picked out two ASX blue chip shares that analysts currently rate as buys:

Goodman Group (ASX: GMG)

The first blue chip ASX 200 share to look at is Goodman Group.

It is a leading integrated commercial and industrial property company with operations across the world. Among its portfolio are warehouses, data centres, large scale logistics facilities, and business and office parks.

Goodman currently has $73 billion of total assets under management and over 1,700 customers globally. The latter includes the likes of Amazon, Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL), DHL, Showpo, and Walmart.

Demand for Goodman’s properties has been strong and has underpinned sky high occupancy rates and double-digit earnings growth over the last decade. This demand is being driven by the success of Goodman’s strategy of developing modern, high quality properties in key gateway cities around the world. Management highlights that this has shortened the distance between businesses and consumers and put its customers ahead of the market.

Goldman Sachs is a big fan of Goodman and continues to forecast strong earnings growth (compound annual growth rate of ~14% between FY 2022 and FY 2024). It currently has a buy rating and $25.40 price target on the company’s shares.

Sonic Healthcare Limited (ASX: SHL)

Another ASX 200 blue chip share to consider is Sonic.

It is one of the world’s leading healthcare providers with operations across Australasia, Europe, and North America. Sonic currently employs more than 1,500 pathologists and radiologists, and more than 10,000 medical scientists, radiographers, sonographers, technicians, and nurses.

Thanks to this strong network, and particularly its pathology business, Sonic has been a very strong performer during the last couple of years. This is at a time when many other healthcare companies have struggled. Sonic’s strong growth has been driven by its exposure to COVID testing and the resilient performance of its non-COVID testing businesses.

And while COVID testing is winding down now and its earnings are likely to have peaked for the time being, the team at Credit Suisse still see plenty of value in it shares. It recently retained its outperform rating with an improved price target of $38.50.

The post Analysts name 2 blue chip ASX 200 shares to buy now appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why is the ASX 200 diving 2% on Tuesday?
• 2 leading ASX dividend shares I’d buy for long-term income
• Experts name 2 blue chip ASX 200 shares to buy
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Sonic Healthcare share price charges higher on 10% FY22 dividend boost

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 Sonic Healthcare 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 Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (ASX: VAS) is a popular way to invest in ASX shares. According to Vanguard, the ETF size is $11 billion. But, is it a good choice for beginner investors?

Investing can be daunting because there are so many choices to choose from. What is a good place to put hard-earned money?

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) could be a smart choice because it allows investors to invest in a portfolio of businesses in one go. The ETF does all the investing on behalf of investors.

So, that describes what an ETF can do. But what about the VAS ETF specifically? I’m going to outline some of the main positives.

Low cost

One of the advantages of an ETF is that it can have low management fees, depending on the provider.

Vanguard offers a number of ETFs such as the VAS ETF and the Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF (ASX: VGS). The VGS ETF is focused on the global share market and offers access to international technology businesses with attractive growth potential like Alphabet and Microsoft.

One of the key features of Vanguard is that it aims to provide its investment funds to people as cheaply as possible. Vanguard is not a fund manager trying to make big profits.

The Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF has an annual management fee of 0.10%, which is very low.

Diversified

The VAS ETF enables people to indirectly invest in the businesses in the S&P/ASX 300 Index (ASX: XKO).

It means that we’re investing in 300 names inside the portfolio.

What types of names are in the portfolio? Well, the biggest businesses have the largest allocations in the ETF. At the end of July 2022, here are the names that are at least 2.5% of the portfolio:

BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) – 9.3%

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) – 8.1%

CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) – 6.6%

National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) – 4.7%

Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) – 3.6%

Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) – 3.1%

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) – 3%

Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) – 2.9%

Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) – 2.5%

Of course, there are hundreds of other names in the portfolio, so it offers plenty of diversification.

Any negatives about the VAS ETF?

Just because it’s a Vanguard ETF doesn’t automatically mean that it’s the best choice.

The ASX has plenty of exciting potential investments. However, due to the nature of the Australian economy, the portfolio is quite heavily focused on resources and banks. ‘Financials’ and ‘materials’ make up more than 50% of the portfolio. These sectors don’t typically have businesses growing at a fast rate year after year.

The information technology sector can be a fruitful place to find businesses growing revenue (and perhaps profit) quickly, but there’s only a 3.3% allocation to it in this ETF.

So, while this ETF may have a solid dividend yield, the capital growth may not be as much as other options over the long term, such as the VGS ETF. Over the past five years, the VGS ETF has seen capital growth of an average of 9.4% per annum, whereas the VAS ETF’s capital growth has been an average of 3.5% per annum.

The post Is the VAS ETF a good way to get started with investing? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Could these ASX ETFs soon play a bigger role in Aussie super funds?
• Why are the VAS ETF’s dividends so erratic?
• How does VGS stack up against other ASX index funds?
• 2 ETFs I think would make good additions to most portfolios
• Here’s how much the Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (VAS) has paid in dividends over the past 5 years

Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. 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 positions in and has recommended Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), CSL Ltd., Microsoft, and Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Wesfarmers Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Macquarie Group Limited, Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF, and Westpac Banking Corporation. 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 Endeavour Group Ltd (ASX: EDV) share price dropped 8.2% for the month of August, with a closing price of $7.92 on the last day of July and a closing price of $7.27 on 31 August.

Shares of the alcohol retailer and hotels operator finished the session on Thursday at $7.46, up 2.61%. Earlier this morning, the shares made an intraday high of $7.49.

Endeavour shares experienced a stronger sell-off than many of their peers in the consumer staples sector last month.

That includes Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW), which lost only 3.81% and ended at a closing price of $36.09 on the last trading day of the month.

Meanwhile, Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) also reported a smaller loss than Endeavour Group at 6.35%, ending the month at a closing price of $17.56.

Overall, the S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Staples Index (ASX: XSJ) lost only 2.65%.

There’s a bull vs bear case for Endeavour going on in the broker community right now. The question is whether the shares are undervalued at their current level.

Let’s take a look at what the experts have to say.

Is Endeavour Group a bargain, or not?

Last Thursday, a note from Goldman Sachs suggested the Endeavour share price presents a “value entry point” for investors.

The broker gave Endeavour Group a price target of $8.10, representing a potential upside of 8.7% at the time of writing.

The broker said:

Despite the stock sell down on the back of results, our longer-term investment thesis for EDV does not change. We continue to see that EDV has one of the most loyal consumer bases in Retail (unique annual active users +15% YoY to 4.5mn in FY22) and improving VOC NPS. As the company continues to invest in consumer loyalty and digitalization, we expect that this will continue to drive mid-single digit sales growth in mix improvement together with cost efficiencies for margin expansion. We hence view the pull back in share price as a value entry point into a high quality and defensive player in AU Consumer.

Fat Prophets CEO Angus Geddes offered the opposite conclusion from his analysis, as reported by The Bull. Geddes noted that liquor sales and margins could be compressed by tighter household budgets.

Geddes said:

Australia’s dominant liquor retailer and hotel operator offers defensive qualities. Group sales of $11.6 billion in fiscal year 2022 were flat year-on-year. Group earnings before interest and tax of $924 million represented a 2.8 per cent increase on the prior corresponding period. In our view, liquor sales and margins may be impacted by price increases as households tighten budgets. The company is trading above our valuation.

Endeavour Group share price snapshot

The Endeavour Group share price is up 10% year to date. By contrast, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is down 9.8% over the same period.

The company’s market capitalisation is $13.02 billion.

The post Is the Endeavour share price a bargain after its big tumble in August? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why Coles, Fisher & Paykel, New Hope, and Nitro shares are rising
• 3 ASX 200 shares defying today’s sell-off to surge higher
• How did ASX 200 dividend shares stack up in August?
• Hoping to bag the boosted Coles dividend? Here’s what you need to do
• Here are 5 ASX 200 shares going ex-dividend tomorrow

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 positions in and has recommended Goldman Sachs. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended COLESGROUP DEF SET. 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 Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) share price is losing ground today despite the company announcing it has reached an agreement with Canadian-listed Turquoise Hill Resources.

Throughout the day, the mining giant’s shares have been trading lower as its key commodity, iron ore, fell below the US$100 level. It is the first time in more than a month that the price of the steel-making ingredient has dipped below the psychological barrier.

The Chinese economy is reeling from a slowing economy amid the property sector facing the largest crisis in its history.

In response, authorities in the key centre of Tangshan recently decided to cut steel production by more than 8 million tonnes in the second half.

Currently, Rio Tinto shares are swapping hands at $92.78 apiece, down 1.82%.

Rio Tinto set to acquire Turquoise Hill

In an effort to work directly in partnership with Erdenes Oyu Tolgoi and the Mongolian government, Rio Tinto will acquire the remaining 49% stake in Turquoise Hill.

Under the agreement, Rio Tinto will pay C$43 (A$48) for each outstanding common share it doesn’t own in Turquoise Hill. This represents a 67% premium to the last closing price of C$25.68 (A$28.65) on 11 March 2022, the day before Rio Tinto made an initial bid.

The deal is valued at US$3.3 billion ($4.8 billion) and has the unanimous approval of Turquoise Hill’s board of directors.

Both companies are expected to quickly finalise an ‘arrangement agreement’, with more detail available once executed.

Turquoise Hill will also require 66.67% of votes from its shareholders to approve the deal. A special meeting will be held sometime in the fourth quarter of this year.

In addition, Rio Tinto and Turquoise Hill agreed for the Heads of Agreement (HoA) to become effective with the execution of the Arrangement Agreement. This will support Turquoise Hill in addressing its near-term liquidity.

Rio Tinto chief executive Jakob Stausholm commented:

Rio Tinto is committed to moving Oyu Tolgoi forward in direct partnership with the Government of Mongolia to realise its full potential for all stakeholders. This agreement represents another significant step following the recent commencement of the underground operations, and will simplify governance, improve efficiency and create greater certainty of funding for the long-term success of the Oyu Tolgoi project.

Rio Tinto share price snapshot

For the majority of the year, the Rio Tinto share price has moved in circles to register a loss of 6%.

In comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Resources (ASX: XJR) sector is flat over the same time frame.

Rio Tinto has a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 6.04 and commands a market capitalisation of approximately $35.08 billion.

The post Rio Tinto share price dips despite $4.9b Turquoise Hill deal appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• How did ASX 200 dividend shares stack up in August?
• Reason for hope as ‘worst month of the year’ starts off badly
• 3 mining ASX shares ripe for buying now: experts
• How does the Rio Tinto dividend stack up against what BHP is offering?
• Why is the Rio Tinto share price having such a lousy start to the week?

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras 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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AVZ Minerals Ltd (ASX: AVZ) shares remain on ice today amid a further trading halt extension.

The explorer’s shares have been frozen since May and last traded at 78 cents.

So why are AVZ shares still in a trading halt?

Still on ice

AVZ Minerals shares are frozen after the company requested an extension of its voluntary suspension on the ASX.

The company is still finalising an announcement on the mining and exploration rights for the Manono Lithium and Tin Project.

This project is located in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Today, AVZ Minerals said “the company advises that the subject of the initial trading halt request remains incomplete”

AVZ Minerals has requested to stay in a trading halt until 15 September, or earlier if an announcement is made on the Manono Project.

On 25 August, AVZ Minerals provided a drilling update on the Manono Lithium and Tin Project. The company advised, “diamond drilling is progressing smoothly”. Eight new diamond drill holes all showed visual spodumene.

AVZ managing director Nigel Ferguson said:

We are happy to report that the first eight holes are mineralised with coarse crystalline spodumene present. Hole MO22DD008 is located about 300metres north-east of the current open pit design.

AVZ Minerals share price snapshot

The AVZ Minerals share price has soared nearly 206% in the past year, despite being in a trading halt since May.

In the past five years, the company’s share price has gained more than 457%.

AVZ Minerals has a market capitalisation of $2.75 billion.

The post AVZ shares are still frozen. What’s going on? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• AVZ Minerals shares are scheduled to resume trading this week. Here’s what to watch

Motley Fool contributor Monica O’Shea 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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The DGL Group Ltd (ASX: DGL) share price is down 45% so far this week, including a fall of 15.7% today.

Shares of the logistics company are currently trading for $1.55. Earlier, they made an intraday high of $1.85 at the market opening.

By comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Industrials Index (ASX: XNJ), which the DGL Group is part of, is only down 0.7%.

The broader market is down more. The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is recording a 1.7% loss at the time of writing. The S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Index is also down 1.8%.

So what could be causing this surge of red in the DGL share price? Let’s cover some recent news about the company over the past week.

What’s going on with the DGL share price?

No news has been released by the company today, but yesterday, it posted its FY22 earnings card. DGL shares cratered 23% as a result.

Curiously, the company noted that its revenues and underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) beat consensus forecasts. Revenue surged to $369.8 million, up 4% on guidance, and EBITDA rose to $65.6 million, 1% above prospectus guidance.

Higher growth was reported in all of its operating segments. However, no guidance was provided for FY23. Instead, it will be announced at its annual general meeting.

In his reporting, my Foolish colleague Zach pointed out that some bad news from the earnings included “many uncertainties in its operations and operating environment looking ahead,” so this may have spooked ASX investors.

DGL shares in review

The DGL Group share price is down 49% year to date.

Meanwhile, the ASX 200 is down 9% over the same period.

The company’s market capitalisation is $513.81 million.

The post DGL share price tumbles again, down 45% so far this week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why DGL, PointsBet, Tabcorp, and Woodside shares are dropping today
• Why did this ASX All Ords share just crater 23%?
• Expert names 2 ASX shares to buy for ‘extended, uninterrupted’ good times

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 positions in and has recommended DGL Group Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended DGL Group 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 Electro Optic Systems Holdings Limited (ASX: EOS) share price is on ice after the ASX suspended the company from trading today.

The ASX has given the defence and space technology company a smack on the wrist for “failure to lodge the relevant periodic report by the due date”.

Before the market opened, the ASX announced it was suspending Electro Optic Systems and four other ASX shares for this same reason.

The ASX said:

The securities of the following entities will be suspended from Official Quotation in accordance with Listing Rule 17.5 from the commencement of trading today, 1 September 2022, following their failure to lodge the relevant periodic report by the due date.

The August reporting season officially ended yesterday (obviously) on 31 August.

The ASX requires companies to disclose half-year and full-year reports. They also have to submit quarterly activities reports and other documents.

Electro Optic Systems provided a quarterly activities report on 29 July.

It posted full-year FY21 accounts on 31 March.

At the time of writing, Electro Optic Systems had not yet responded to the suspension.

The other ASX shares suspended alongside Electro Optic are:

• 3D Metalforge Ltd (ASX: 3MF)
• Frontier Energy Ltd (ASX: FHE)
• Range International Ltd (ASX: RAN)
• Retech Technology Co Ltd (ASX: RTE)

Electro Optic share price snapshot

The defence company’s shares are down 70% in the year to date and 80% over the past 12 months.

The company has a market capitalisation of $117.8 million.

The post Why is the Electro Optic Systems share price frozen today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why has the Electro Optic Systems share price soared 16% in 2 days?

Motley Fool contributor Bronwyn Allen 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 Electro Optic Systems Holdings Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Electro Optic Systems Holdings 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 Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) price is slipping on its first day of the new month, down 3.4% to US$1,552 (AU$ 2,286).

That comes amid a wider market sell-off that’s hitting risk assets particularly hard this week, as investors eye the prospect of further interest rate hikes ahead to combat inflation that’s now looking to be more sticky than transitory in the medium term.

That’s how the world’s number two crypto is moving today.

But how did it fare in August?

Ethereum price falls buffered by the upcoming Merge

The Ethereum price kicked off August trading for US$1,687 (depending on your time zone) and ended the month at US$1,592.

Highlighting the ongoing volatility crypto investors need to be comfortable with, Ethereum traded as low as US$1,428 and as high as US$2,022 over the month, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

All up, the token fell 5.6% in August. While a loss is a loss, the Ethereum price didn’t fare much worse than the tech-heavy NASDAQ, which slumped 4.6% in August. And outperformed the Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) price, which fell more than 14% over the month.

Ethereum looks to be getting some helpful tailwinds from the upcoming Merge, which could finally go from years of testing to live use later this month.

If you’re not familiar, the Merge will transition the Ethereum blockchain transition from proof of work (POW) to proof of stake (POS). POW protocols require a lot less computing power, reducing transaction costs, increasing efficiency, and producing far fewer carbon emissions.

Commenting on how the Merge was impacting crypto investor behaviours in August, eToro’s market analyst and crypto expert Simon Peters said:

In terms of how the market is reacting there is now obvious evidence that it is becoming more actively sensitive to developments on The Merge. The [Ethereum]price has been on an upward trajectory and has reacted positively to developments as investors buy into the token ahead of the change.

The post Why the Ethereum price slipped but still outperformed Bitcoin in August appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why Ethereum and other cryptos jumped Wednesday
• Why Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin are falling today
• 1 cryptocurrency to buy and hold forever
• Here’s why the Bitcoin price just dipped back below US$20,000

Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben 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 Ethereum and Bitcoin. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Ethereum and Bitcoin. 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 Wall Street’s lead and dropped deep into the red on Thursday. In afternoon trade, the benchmark index is down 1.8% to 6,862.9 points.

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

BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP)

The BHP share price is down 7% to $37.73. This has been driven almost entirely by the mining giant’s shares trading ex-dividend this morning for its latest dividend payment. Eligible shareholders can now look forward to being paid this fully franked final dividend of $2.471 per share later this month on 29 September.

Deep Yellow Limited (ASX: DYL)

The Deep Yellow share price is down 9% to $1.06. This appears to have been driven by profit taking after some strong gains in recent days. Investors have been buying this uranium developer’s shares after the price of the chemical element pushed higher amid optimism over the potential construction of new nuclear power plants. The Deep Yellow share price remains up 20% since this time last week despite this pullback.

Nickel Industries Ltd (ASX: NIC)

The Nickel Industries share price is down over 5% to 93.7 cents. This morning the team at Macquarie downgraded this nickel producer’s shares to a neutral rating and cut the price target on them to $1.00. This was driven by a softer than expected first half result and concerns over weakness in the stainless-steel market.

PointsBet Holdings Ltd (ASX: PBH)

The PointsBet share price is down 15% to $2.47. Investors have continued to sell this sports betting company’s shares following the release of its full year results on Wednesday. Although PointsBet reported a 52% increase in revenue to $296.5 million it still recorded a loss after tax almost as great at $267 million. And while it finished the period with a sizeable cash balance of $472 million, investors appear concerned that this may still not be enough to see it through to profit.

The post Why BHP, Deep Yellow, Nickel Industries, and PointsBet shares are dropping appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why is the ASX 200 diving 2% on Tuesday?
• How did ASX 200 dividend shares stack up in August?
• Reason for hope as ‘worst month of the year’ starts off badly
• 3 mining ASX shares ripe for buying now: experts
• Why is the BHP share price sinking 8% 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 Pointsbet Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Pointsbet Holdings Ltd. 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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