In afternoon trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to start the week with a decent gain. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is up 0.7% to 7,228.5 points.
Four ASX shares that have failed to follow the market higher today are listed below. Here's why they are dropping:
Austal Ltd (ASX: ASB)
The Austal share price is down 3% to $1.67. Investors have been selling this shipbuilder's shares after it revealed that the United States Department of Justice has indicted three former Austal USA employees. They have been indicted for allegedly making or causing to be made false and misleading statements about Austal USA's performance and financial condition between 2012 and 2016. The US SEC has also filed civil charges against the same three individuals.
Netwealth Group Ltd (ASX: NWL)
The Netwealth share price is down 7% to $12.57. This morning, this investment platform provider released its quarterly update. Although it revealed $1.7 billion in net inflows, this is slower than previous quarters. Nevertheless, together with favourable market movements, Netwealth's FUA increased by 5.45% or $3.4 billion to $65.8 billion.
Perseus Mining Limited (ASX: PRU)
The Perseus Mining share price is down 8% to $1.63. This follows broad weakness in the gold industry after investor sentiment improved. This has seen the S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Gold index fall 1.9% today. In other news, this morning, the Africa-focused gold miner announced a new US$300 million syndicated revolving corporate facility. This replaces its existing US$150 million facility.
Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)
The Pilbara Minerals share price is down over 3% to $3.81. A number of lithium shares are dropping today. This may be due to a bearish note out of Citi regarding lithium prices or the release of Tesla's deliveries numbers overnight. The latter was a record but still fell short of the market's expectations.
