The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to start the week with a decline. In afternoon trade, the benchmark index is down 0.25% to 8,842.6 points.
Four ASX shares that are falling more than most today are listed below. Here's why they are dropping:
ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: ANZ)
The ANZ share price is down almost 1% to $32.93. This morning, the big four bank revealed that it has reached an agreement with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to resolve five separate regulatory investigations. This will see ANZ pay a total of $240 million in penalties. The largest penalty relates to its role as duration manager in the execution of a 2023 issuance of 10-year Treasury Bonds by the Australian Office of Financial Management (AOFM). The bank stated: "It is ANZ's view that no loss was caused to the Commonwealth from its trading as duration manager. However, given ANZ could have executed its role as duration manager with better communication, ANZ has offered to pay the AOFM the revenue it earned as duration manager as a goodwill gesture."
Ausgold Ltd (ASX: AUC)
The Ausgold share price is down 2.5% to 91.5 cents. This is despite the release of a drilling update from the gold developer this morning. Ausgold revealed that it is about to launch a major new gold drilling program at the 100%-owned 2.44Moz Katanning Gold Project (KGP) and across its extensive highly prospective greenstone tenure in the south-west of Western Australia. Executive chairman, John Dorward, stated: "This is one of the most significant drill programs undertaken by Ausgold to date. Following the recently settled land access arrangement, we are combining low-risk, high-reward Resource growth at the KGP with an aggressive regional campaign that aims to unlock the significant discovery upside of our project."
Contact Energy Ltd (ASX: CEN)
The Contact Energy share price is down 2% to $8.24. This follows the release of a monthly operating report from the energy company. It revealed that its consumer business recorded mass market electricity and gas sales of 454GWh for the month of August. This is down slightly from 456GWh a year earlier.
Ora Banda Mining Ltd (ASX: OBM)
The Ora Banda Mining share price is down 10% to $1.04. This appears to have been driven by a bearish broker note out of Macquarie this morning. According to the note, the broker has downgraded the gold miner's shares from outperform all the way down to an underperform rating with an unchanged price target of 95 cents. This follows the release of its mineral resources and ore reserve statement at the end of last week.
