In late afternoon trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to record a small gain. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is up 0.1% to 7,524.6 points.
Four ASX shares that have failed to follow the market higher today are listed below. Here's why they are dropping:
Air New Zealand Limited (ASX: AIZ)
The Air New Zealand share price is down 6% to $1.20. This follows the announcement of a NZ$2.2 billion recapitalisation package. The airline operator is raising NZ$1.2 billion of this via a rights offer at a 62% discount of 49 Australian cents per new share. Eligible shareholders will be able to purchase two new shares for every share they already own. The balance will be raised via the Crown.
Block Inc (ASX: SQ2)
The Block share price is down 4% to $186.30. Investors have been selling Block and other tech shares following a poor night of trade on the tech-focused Nasdaq index in the United States. This has led to the S&P ASX All Technology index falling 1.5% today.
Eagers Automotive Ltd (ASX: APE)
The Eagers Automotive share price is down 2% to $14.22. This has been driven entirely by the auto retailer's shares trading ex-dividend this morning for its upcoming final fully franked dividend of 42.5 cents per share. In fact, if you take this dividend out of the equation, Eagers Automotive's shares would be trading higher on Thursday.
Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (ASX: HVN)
The Harvey Norman share price is down 6% to $5.36. As with Eagers Automotive, this decline is attributable to the retailer's shares trading ex-dividend this morning. Earlier this month Harvey Norman declared a fully franked interim dividend of 20 cents per share. This will be paid to eligible shareholders next month on 2 May.
