In afternoon trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to end the week deep in the red. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is down 2.1% to 7,176.9 points.
Four ASX shares that are falling more than most today are listed below. Here's why these ASX shares are dropping:
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Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA)
The CBA share price is down 4% to $99.96. This appears to have been driven by a market selloff, which has been particularly bad in the banking sector. All the big four banks are falling heavily today and are weighing greatly on the ASX 200. This may have been driven partly by the release of data out of the ABS.
Mount Gibson Iron Limited (ASX: MGX)
The Mount Gibson Iron share price has sunk 7% to 44.5 cents. This morning the iron ore miner announced that its Shine operations will be ramped down and suspended after the next planned shipment. Management advised that this decision reflects a rapid deterioration in iron ore prices, particularly for lower and medium grade ores.
Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)
The Pilbara Minerals share price is down 5% to $1.94. This decline appears to have been driven by profit taking from some investors amid the market volatility. After all, even after this pullback, the lithium miner's shares are up over 120% since the start of 2021.
Virgin Money UK CDI (ASX: VUK)
The Virgin Money UK share price is down 8% to $3.72. As well as weakness in the banking sector, an announcement out of the UK bank appears to be weighing on its shares. Virgin Money UK has decided to accelerate its digital strategy in order to enable greater efficiency and drive up levels of digitisation across the bank. This will see it close a fifth of its branches in the coming months at a cost of GBP25 million.
