The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to end the week with a small decline. In afternoon trade, the benchmark index is down 0.1% to 8,529.6 points.
Four ASX shares that are falling more than most today are listed below. Here's why they are dropping on Friday:
Dateline Resources Ltd (ASX: DTR)
The Dateline Resources share price is down 7.5% to 12.5 cents. This morning, this gold explorer revealed that it has secured approval to upgrade its U.S. trading status from the OTC Pink Market to the OTCQB Venture Market. Management notes that this provides improved liquidity and easier access for American investors to purchase Dateline shares in U.S. dollars during U.S. market hours. This is part of the company's strategy to broaden its North American shareholder base and enhance market visibility in the United States. It is possible some American investors are selling their ASX listed shares today in order to buy them on the OTCQB Venture Market tonight.
DroneShield Ltd (ASX: DRO)
The DroneShield share price is down 6% to $1.53. This is likely to have been driven by profit taking from investors after stellar gains this week. For example, prior to today's decline, the counter drone technology company's shares were up almost 25% since the end of last week. The catalyst for that strong gain appears to have been optimism over the outlook for spending in the defence sector following an announcement by the UK government at the weekend.
Ora Banda Mining Ltd (ASX: OBM)
The Ora Banda share price is down 9% to $1.16. Investors have been selling this gold miner's shares after it downgraded its gold production guidance for FY 2025. Ora Banda now expects FY 2025 total production to be ~95k ounces. This is 5% below the low end of its guidance range of 100k ounces to 110k ounces. Costs are also expected to be 4% higher than it was forecasting. The driver of this has been extended downtime from the processing plant. This is due to the installation of lifter and lining upgrades to the primary mill.
Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)
The Pilbara Minerals share price is down over 4% to $1.29. This may have been driven by concerns over demand for lithium from the electric vehicle market after Elon Musk's public fallout with US President Donald Trump. Telsa (NASDAQ: TSLA) shares crashed over 14% on Wall Street overnight amid fears that the Musk-Trump clash could hurt sales to Republicans.
