The S&P / ASX200 (ASX: XJO) is down 0.65% in afternoon trade near a 52-week at 5,660 points as investors hit the sell button on mounting concerns over the Brexit deal in the UK and the ongoing trade and commerce dispute between the world's two major economies of the US and China.
However, some shares are falling a lot further than the index for differing reasons, so let's take a look at what may be behind their price falls.
The Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) share price closed 5.4% lower at $37.62 despite the online accounting business releasing no specific news to the market. Xero's heavy falls are in line with the falls of the tech-heavy NASDAQ index in the US. It seems investors in technology shares are getting skittish that some of their valuations may have got way ahead of themselves.
The CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price closed down 3.6% at $175.75 after news reports in the Fairfax press that a block sale trade of 1.43 million shares worth $25o million went through today at $175.50 a share. If news leaks into the market that a significant institutional investor is selling a stock it can hurt confidence over the short-term at least. CSL shares have now tumbled 24% from their early September highs above $230. The company has maintained guidance for FY 2019 profit growth between 10%-14%.
The AMP Limited (ASX: AMP) share price shed 3.5% to $2.49 today as it continues to battle the fallout from the Royal Commission and its board's controversial decision to sell its life insurance business to UK insurance group Resolution Life for $3.3 billion. Some of AMP's major shareholders have threatened to try and overthrow the board in a bid to get the deal blocked and the fallen financial services giant is still facing multiple problems.
The Orocobre Limited (ASX: ORE) share price has tumbled 7.4% to $4.63 today despite the lithium miner releasing no update the market. The shares are probably falling as risk-off sentiment hits markets and investors worry a Brexit-inspired crash could be around the corner. For lithium believers Orocobre looks a reasonable bet given it posted a cash profit of US$25.7 million in FY 2018 and had US$309 million in cash on hand as at November 12 2018.
