It's been a rough day for the Australian share market and many ASX shares so far this Tuesday. At the time of writing, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has retreated 0.36% and is back down to around 8,387 points, despite an early surge into positive territory at market open. But let's talk about what's happening with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price.
CBA shares are having an awful day, no way around it. The ASX's largest bank stock closed at $160.14 a share yesterday after touching yet another new record high of $160.27 during intra-day trading. This morning, CBA shares opened right on $160, but quickly started falling.
At the time of writing, this banking giant is now nursing a nasty 2.75% loss and is back down to $155.74 a share.
It's a particularly conspicuous loss for the CBA share price. The bank's big four peers are also having a rough day, but have dipped nowhere near the level that CBA has.
To illustrate, the Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price is currently down 0.99% at $33.08 a share. National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) shares have retreated 1.19% down to $39.14, while ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: ANZ) stock has dropped 1.26% to $31.43.
As such, we can see that CBA's losses are almost double those of its big four stablemates.
So what's going on here?
Image source: Getty Images
Why is the CBA share price having such a terrible Tuesday?
Well, it's a bit of a mystery. There's been no fresh news or announcements out of CBA that might simply explain the bank's brutal sell-off.
However, we can do a little speculating.
As many investors would be aware, CBA has been on a blistering run of late. It was only earlier this month that the CBA share price crossed $150 for the first time ever. It only took another few weeks for the bank to then hit $160.
As of yesterday's close, the bank was up an extraordinary 12.1% over the preceding month. In contrast, Westpac shares only gained 3.9% over the same period. NAB shares enjoyed a 2.4% rise, while ANZ shares gained just 1.2%.
It's entirely possible that investors have decided today that the exuberant gains for CBA over the past month might be overblown. As such, investors might be taking profits off the table en masse. With far more profits available from CBA shares, it's not inconceivable that this stock is bearing the brunt of the rush out of the banks this Tuesday.
Let's see how long this sudden turn of fortunes for the CBA share price lasts.
