In afternoon trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to end its winning streak. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is down 0.3% to 6,978 points.
Four ASX shares that are falling more than most today are listed below. Here's why they are dropping:
Block Inc (ASX: SQ2)
The Block share price is down almost 7% to $89.49. This follows an even larger decline by the payments company's NYSE listed shares overnight on Wall Street. Block wasn't the only tech share under pressure. A number of tech stocks dropped deep into the red, leading to the tech-focused Nasdaq index sliding 2.5% last night.
Lake Resources N.L. (ASX: LKE)
The Lake Resources share price is down 3.5% to $1.07. This follows broad weakness in the lithium industry today. In addition, Lake Resources shares have come under pressure during the last couple of sessions after J Capital renewed its short attack on the lithium developer.
Pendal Group Ltd (ASX: PDL)
The Pendal share price is down over 11% to $3.89. Investors have been selling this fund manager's shares amid concerns that Perpetual Limited (ASX: PPT) could be looking to abandon its takeover of Pendal. Perpetual, which has received an improved takeover proposal today, has sought to delay a court hearing for the scheme of arrangement.
Xero Limited (ASX: XRO)
The Xero share price has sunk 10% to $65.09. Investors have been selling this cloud accounting platform provider's shares after its first half earnings fell short of estimates. In addition, the company announced the surprise exit of its CEO, Steve Vamos, after almost five years in the top job. In respect to its earnings, Xero reported EBITDA of NZ$108.6 million (or NZ$123.7 million excluding one-offs). This compares to the consensus estimate of NZ$143 million.
