In afternoon trade the S&P/ASX 200 index is on course to start the week on a positive note. At the time of writing the benchmark index is up 0.4% to 6,544.4 points.
Four shares that have failed to follow the market higher today are listed below. Here's why they have tumbled lower:
The Altura Mining Ltd (ASX: AJM) share price is down 3% to 6.6 cents. Although there has been no news out of the lithium miner today, last week lithium prices sank to two-year lows amid increasing supply and softening demand. This latest decline means the Altura Mining share price is down ~74% from 25 cents over the last 12 months.
The Mayne Pharma Group Ltd (ASX: MYX) share price has dropped 3% to 56.2 cents. This decline appears to be down to profit taking after the pharmaceutical company's shares rocketed higher last week following the release of a major product announcement. Its shares raced higher after it announced a 20-year exclusive supply and license agreement with Mithra Pharmaceuticals to commercialise a novel oral contraceptive comprising estetrol and drospirenone in the United States. Management advised that the US contraceptive market is valued at US$5.4 billion.
The Nick Scali Limited (ASX: NCK) share price has fallen 2.5% to $6.97. The catalyst for this decline has been the furniture retailer's shares trading ex-dividend this morning for its fully franked final dividend of 20 cents per share. Eligible shareholders can now look forward to being paid this dividend on October 29.
The Speedcast International Ltd (ASX: SDA) share price is down 4.5% to $1.08. Investors appear to still be taking profit after the shares of the provider of remote communications and IT services rocketed higher in September. Speedcast's shares were the second-best performers on the index last month with a gain of 58.1%. They are still down materially over the last 12 months.
