It is rare to see an ASX megacap stock fall 16% in a single session, yet that is exactly what mature biotech CSL did on Tuesday, dragging the entire market down with it.
The $20 billion sell-off in Australia’s third-largest listed company more than wiped out the gains posted by fellow heavyweights BHP, CBA, NAB and Block, pushing the ASX into the red.
The catalyst was CSL’s announcement of a wholesale restructure of its global business, including a plan to spin off its under pressure vaccines business Seqirus as a separate ASX listing, and to eliminate 3,000 jobs, reduce its plasma centres in the US and cut $550 million in annual costs.
Market watchers suggested the magnitude of the fall indicated a large institutional investor liquidating its position in the blood products giant. TMS Private Wealth portfolio manager Ben Clark described the sell-off as a “protest vote”.
