A sell off on New Year's Eve was largely responsible for the S&P/ASX 200 index recording a disappointing decline last week. The benchmark index fell a sizeable 88.2 points or 1.3% to end it at 6733.5 points.
A number of shares on the index fell more than most last week. Here's why these shares were the worst performers on the ASX 200 over the period:
The Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD) share price was the worst performer on the ASX 200 last week with a 5.6% decline. The catalyst for this decline was the airport operator's shares trading ex-dividend on December 31 for its latest dividend. Sydney Airport will be paying shareholders a 19.5 cents per share dividend on February 14. Also taking a tumble this week for the same reason was the Transurban Group (ASX: TCL) share price with a 4.4% decline and the APA Group (ASX: APA) share price with a 4.7% decline.
The Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) share price wasn't far behind with a 4.9% decline last week. This decline appears to have been down to end of year profit taking in the tech sector. It wasn't just Appen tumbling lower, Altium Limited (ASX: ALU) and WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC) also dropped notably lower. This led to the S&P/ASX 200 Info Tech index dropping 1.8% last week despite a decent rebound on Friday.
The Costa Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: CGC) share price was out of form again and fell 4.6% last week. This decline appears to have been driven by concerns over the impact that bushfires could have on the horticulture company's produce. On Friday the landlord of some of its berry operations, Vitalharvest Freehold Trust (ASX: VTH), revealed that bushfires in southern NSW have impacted the Tumbarumba berry farm.
