It has been a very disappointing start to the week for the S&P/ASX 200 index. In early afternoon trade the benchmark index is down a sizeable 1.1% to 6,675.4 points due largely to weakness in bank and resources shares.
Four shares that have fallen more than most today are listed below. Here's why they have tumbled lower:
The Carnarvon Petroleum Limited (ASX: CVN) share price has crashed over 21% lower to 45.5 cents after the oil and gas exploration company released an update on drilling activities at its Roc South-1 exploration well. According to the release, an 8.5" hole has been drilled to a depth of approximately 4,508 metres Measured Depth. However, the interpretation of wireline logs indicates that there are no producible hydrocarbons across the Caley and Baxter sands.
The G8 Education Ltd (ASX: GEM) share price has fallen 10% to $2.76. The childcare centre operator's sizeable decline appears to have been driven by a broker downgrade this morning. This decline has wiped out almost all its year to date gains and left the company's shares trading at a two-month low.
The HUB24 Ltd (ASX: HUB) share price rebound was only short-lived and the investment platform provider is down a sizeable 6% to $11.07 today. HUB24's shares have come under significant pressure in recent weeks due to concerns over the impact that the Reserve Bank's cash rate cuts will have on its business.
The Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) share price is down 2.5% to $11.46 after the gold price tumbled sharply lower at the end of last week. According to CNBC, the spot gold price dropped 1.5% to US$1,400.10 an ounce on Friday and has continued to slide during Asian trade. This has been driven by strong U.S. jobs data which dampened hopes of a rate cut by the Federal Reserve and put pressure on the price of the precious metal. At the time of writing the S&P/ASX All Ords Gold index is down 1.4%.
