In afternoon trade the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to start the week strongly. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is up 0.4% to 6,825.7 points.
Four ASX shares that have failed to follow the market higher today are listed below. Here's why they are dropping lower:
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Ampol Ltd (ASX: ALD)
The Ampol share price is tumbling 5% lower to $29.27. This morning Ampol announced the completion of its $300 million off-market buyback. The fuel retailer bought the shares back at $26.34, which represents a 14% discount. Ampol advised that it expects $24.33 of the buyback price to be treated as a fully franked dividend for Australian capital gains tax purposes.
Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT)
The Flight Centre share price is down 3% to $15.17. Flight Centre and a number of other travel shares have come under pressure today. This may have been driven by concerns that there could be delays to the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in Australia.
Syrah Resources Ltd (ASX: SYR)
The Syrah share price has tumbled 6% lower to $1.23. This decline appears to have been driven by a broker note out of Credit Suisse this morning. According to the note, the broker has downgraded the graphite producer's shares to a neutral rating with a price target of $1.25. Credit Suisse doesn't believe graphite prices have recovered sufficiently to warrant the restart of its Balama operation just yet. It suspects it could happen in the final quarter of the year.
Telix Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX: TLX)
The Telix share price is down 4% to $4.35. This is despite the release of a positive announcement this morning. That update reveals that the company has dosed the first patients from the phase 3 Zircon clinical trial. The Zircon (Zirconium Imaging in Renal Cancer Oncology) trial is a prospective imaging trial in approximately 250 renal cancer patients undergoing kidney surgery to determine the sensitivity and specificity of TLX250-CDx PET imaging to detect clear cell renal cell cancer (ccRCC).
