Why Afterpay, CSL, Fortescue, & Newcrest shares are dropping lower

Afterpay Ltd (ASX:APT) and CSL Limited (ASX:CSL) shares are two of four dropping notably lower on Wednesday. Here's why…

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In late morning trade the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) looks set to end its positive run. Although it is off its lows, the benchmark index is still down 0.35% to 5,761.4 points.

Four shares that have fallen more than most today are listed below. Here's why they are dropping lower:

The Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price is down 5% to $46.61. Investors appear to be taking profit off the table after some stellar gains over the last few weeks. On Tuesday the Afterpay share price broke through the $50.00 mark for the first time. This strong gain has been driven largely by its impressive sales and customer growth and the arrival of Tencent Holdings as a substantial shareholder. Tencent is the ~US$500 billion company behind the massive WeChat app.

The CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price has dropped 4.5% to $293.21. This is despite there being no news out of the biotherapeutics company. I suspect that investors are taking profit after its shares stormed higher in 2020. Prior to today, they were up approximately 12% year to date.

The Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) share price has fallen over 3.5% to $13.26. Investors have been selling Fortescue's shares today after a pullback in the iron ore price overnight. According to CommSec, iron ore fell by US$2.25 or 2.3% to US$94.60 a tonne after data showed that global steel production fell 13% in April.

The Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) share price is sinking 4.5% lower to $30.42. Investors have been selling Newcrest and the rest of the gold miners after a pullback in the price of the precious metal. Overnight the spot gold price fell by almost 2% after demand for safe haven assets reduced. At the time of writing the S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Gold index is down a sizeable 5.4%.

James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia's parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of CSL Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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