Ex-dividend consumer stocks lead declines on ASX
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The news: Shares in several consumer staple and discretionary heavyweights are weighing heavily on ASX benchmark indices after turning ex-dividend on Tuesday.
The numbers: Shares in conglomerate Wesfarmers fell 1.5%, retailer Coles lost 2.2%, supermarket Woolworths declined 3.7%, and Endeavour Group dropped 1.4%.
As a result, the ASX 200 index was down 0.4% in early trading.
The context: Wesfarmers, Coles, Woolworths and Endeavour are among the more than dozen frontline shares that turned ex-dividend on Tuesday.
That means today is the record date for paying the final dividend that these companies declared at their results last month. Typically, the share price drops by the amount of the dividend paid to reflect the fact that new shareholders are not entitled to that payment.
