The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was out of form last week. Concerns over Chinese property giant Evergrande's financial position weighed on sentiment. This led to the benchmark index losing 0.8% of its value to end the period at 7,342.6 points.
While a good number of shares dropped with the market, some fell more than most. Here's why these were the worst performers on the ASX 200 last week:
Nickel Mines Ltd (ASX: NIC)
The Nickel Mines share price was the worst performer on the ASX 200 last week with a 12.8% decline. Investors were selling the nickel producer's shares amid concerns that the company could be negatively impacted by tax changes in Indonesia. The company advised that the Indonesian Investment Minister was reported as suggesting that Indonesia is exploring the possibility of levying an export tax on nickel products with less than 70% nickel content.
NRW Holdings Limited (ASX: NWH)
The NRW share price wasn't far behind with a weekly decline of 11.5%. There were a couple of catalysts for the mining services company's share price weakness. The first was that NRW's shares were officially kicked out of the ASX 200 on Monday at the quarterly rebalance. In addition, on Thursday the company's shares traded ex-dividend for its fully franked final 5 cents per share dividend.
Gold Road Resources Ltd (ASX: GOR)
The Gold Road share price was out of form and dropped 8.3% over the five days. Investors were selling Gold Road and other gold miners last week after the price of the precious metal pulled back. Traders were selling gold on the belief that the US Federal Reserve may start to raise interest rates sooner than expected.
Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: LYC)
The Lynas share price was a poor performer and tumbled 8.2% last week. This appears to have been driven by weakness in commodity prices following concerns over the Chinese economy. The neodymium price has been a particularly poor performer recently, putting pressure on this rare earths producer's shares.
