In afternoon trade the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) is on course to bounce back from its mixed start to the week with a solid gain. At the time of writing the benchmark index is up 0.4% to 5,795 points.
Four shares that have failed to follow the market higher today are listed below. Here's why they are sliding lower:
The Ausdrill Limited (ASX: ASL) share price is down 9.5% to $1.12 following the announcement of the resignation of the diversified mining services company's chief financial officer. Theresa Mlikota has told Ausdrill that she will resign and leave the company within the next three months to join building materials company Adelaide Brighton Ltd (ASX: ABC).
The Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN) share price has dropped 2.5% to $3.10. Traditionally the ecommerce company will release a trading update around this time of the year. Investors may be selling shares today in case the company reveals that it had a disappointing Christmas period. This wouldn't be overly surprising given how its update in October advised that FY 2019 had started very slowly.
The Mayne Pharma Group Ltd (ASX: MYX) share price has fallen just over 2% to 77.5 cents. Today's decline may be attributable to a broker note out of UBS this morning. According to the note, the broker has downgraded the pharmaceutical company's shares to a neutral rating and slashed the price target on them to 83 cents.
The Retail Food Group Limited (ASX: RFG) share price has tumbled 6% lower to 32 cents. The embattled food and beverage company's shares rallied significantly higher on Monday after the company advised that it is in discussions to offload assets such as its Crust Gourmet Pizza business in order to reduce its sizeable debt. I suspect today's decline could be the result of profit taking from day traders.
