At lunch on Friday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is following Wall Street's lead and trading notably lower. The benchmark index is currently down 0.95% to 5,852.4 points.
Here's what is happening on the market today:
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Rio Tinto CEO to exit.
The Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) share price has been a comparatively positive performer on Friday after announcing that its CEO, J-S Jacques, has agreed to step down and leave the company. He will remain in his role until the earlier of the appointment of a new CEO or 31 March 2021. Mr Jacques is leaving following a review into the destruction of the Juukan rockshelters in May. A number of fellow executives will be leaving with him.
Tech shares sink lower again.
The tech rout wasn't over after all. A number of popular ASX tech shares such as Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) and Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) are trading notably lower on Friday following more weakness on the tech-heavy Nasdaq index overnight. At the time of writing the S&P ASX All Technology index is down 1.6%.
Nearmap completes placement.
The Nearmap Ltd (ASX: NEA) share price has crashed lower today after the aerial imagery technology and location data company completed its fully underwritten institutional placement. Nearmap raised $72.1 million at a 4.2% discount of $2.77 to support its growth. In addition to this, Goldman Sachs downgraded its shares to a neutral rating this morning on valuation grounds.
Best and worst ASX 200 performers.
The best performer on the ASX 200 at lunch is the Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC) share price with a 3% gain. This follows a 1.9% rise in the thermal coal price during overnight trade. The worst performer by some distance has been the Nearmap share price with a sizeable 11% decline. This follows the completion of its institutional placement.
