The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) may have recorded a decline of 1.4% in 2020, but things would have been much worse if it hadn't been for a stunning final quarter rally.
Over the final three months of the year, the ASX 200 put on a record December quarter gain of 13.3%.
Unfortunately, not all shares joined in on the good times. Here are a few disappointments from the quarter:
Zip Co share price tumbles lower.
The Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price may have continued its meteoric rise in the final quarter, but the same cannot be said for rival Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P). During the final quarter the Zip Co share price lost over 14% of its value. This was despite the company announcing further strong sales growth and deals with Facebook and Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (ASX: HVN). Possibly weighing on its shares was the successful launch of PayPal's buy now pay later offering, news that Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) had sold off its stake in the company, and its $150 million capital raising.
CSL share price underperforms.
The CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price had an uncharacteristically subdued quarter. The biotherapeutics giant's shares fell 1.5% during the quarter, compared to a 13.3% gain by the index. There appear to have been a number of catalysts for this share price weakness. One catalyst was concerns over plasma collection headwinds in the US due to rising COVID-19 cases. This could weigh on immunoglobulins production costs in the future. Also hitting investor sentiment was news that its COVID-19 vaccine trial with University of Queensland was terminated. This was because the vaccine was interfering with certain HIV diagnostic assays.
Gold miners fall out of favour.
It was a disappointing quarter for gold miners such as Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM) and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST). These two giants lost 17.5% and 7% of their value during the three months. This led to the S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Gold index falling almost 14% over the period. Improving investor sentiment thanks to positive COVID-19 vaccine developments weighed heavily on demand for safe haven assets and led to this underperformance.
