It has been a great day for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) on Thursday. In afternoon trade, the benchmark index has followed Wall Street's lead and is charging 1.4% higher to 7,151.5 points.
Four ASX shares that have failed to follow the market higher today are listed below. Here's why they are falling:
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Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM)
The Newcrest share price is down 4.5% to $26.88. Investors have been selling this gold miner's shares following a sizeable pullback in the gold price overnight. This was caused by investors switching back to risk assets after investor sentiment improved. The S&P/ASX All Ords Gold index is down 2.5% at the time of writing.
Nickel Mines Ltd (ASX: NIC)
The Nickel Mines share price is down 14% to $1.20. This decline appears to have been driven by a broker note out of Credit Suisse this morning. According to the note, the broker has downgraded the nickel miner's shares to a neutral rating and cut its price target to $1.34. It suspects that investor sentiment may suffer due to its relationship with Tsingshan, which was caught up in a massive short squeeze.
Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO)
The Rio Tinto share price is down 7.5% to $110.78. The majority of this decline can be attributed to the mining giant's shares trading ex-dividend this morning for its enormous $6.63 per share fully franked final dividend. Eligible shareholders can now look forward to being paid this huge dividend next month on 21 April.
Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL)
The Woodside share price is down 5% to $31.59. Investors have been selling Woodside and other energy shares today after oil prices pulled back materially overnight. Traders were selling oil after the UAE and Iraq indicated that they could increase their production to offset supply concerns.
