The S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has had a day to forget and dropped notably lower in afternoon trade. At the time of writing the benchmark index is down a sizeable 0.75% to 6,126.3 points.
Four shares that have fallen more than most today are listed below. Here's why they are sinking lower:
The Bionomics Ltd (ASX: BNO) share price has plunged 59% lower to 20.5 cents after revealing disappointing results from the phase 2 clinical trial of its BNC210 novel drug candidate in patients with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The trial did not meet its primary endpoint of a decrease in PTSD symptoms as measured by Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS-5) at 12 weeks. Management has suspended future work on the drug candidate. Its shares were down as much as 69% at one stage after this bitter blow.
The Blue Sky Alternative Investments Ltd (ASX: BLA) share price has tumbled almost 6% to $1.62. This decline means that the struggling asset manager's shares have now given back almost all the gains made since announcing its deal with Oaktree Capital last week. While the news was a positive, I think it is still too soon to invest.
The Mesoblast limited (ASX: MSB) share price has dropped 11% lower to $2.08. Prior to today the allogeneic cellular medicines developer's shares had been on a strong run and risen over 34% in the space of just one month. I suspect that some investors may be taking profit today. Which wouldn't be a surprise given what happened to the Bionomics share price when its trial results fell short of expectations.
The Nick Scali Limited (ASX: NCK) share price has dropped 5% to $6.37. The majority of this decline can be attributed to the furniture retailer's shares trading ex-dividend this morning for its fully franked 24 cents per share final dividend. Eligible shareholders can now look forward to receiving this on October 24.
