It's been a tentatively positive Tuesday session for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) so far today. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 has risen by 0.2% and is back to around 8,500 points. But let's talk about what's going on with the South32 Ltd (ASX: S32) share price.
South32 shares are not sharing in the market's overall optimism this session, to say the least. This diversified mining stock closed at $3.44 a share yesterday, and opened at $3.43 this morning before rising as high as $3.46. But soon after market open, investors got a severe case of cold feet.
As it currently stands, the South32 share price has collapsed, and is nursing a 1.31% loss at just $3.40 a share. That's after the company dipped as low as $3.39 a share at one point this morning.
So what on earth has happened here to make investors lose their confidence so quickly with this miner today?
Well, it's hard to know for sure, as there have been no fresh news or announcements out of South32 itself today, or indeed for a while now.
However, we can speculate.
As revealed by The Australian this morning, South32 has reportedly seen a massive block trade execute today. The report alleges that a large block of 24 million shares traded hands this morning. This block, worth $79.7 million, swapped hands at 11.33 am today, at a price of $3.32 a share. That price is obviously below the pricing that we have seen on the markets today, and well below yesterday's closing price.
Remember, a company's share price is merely a reflection of the last price at which shares were bought or sold. You can imagine how anyone who might have wished to buy South32 shares today would see this 'whale' trade, and immediately be unhappy to pay a price too far above that $3.32 a share.
Since this block trade represents around 0.6% of South32's entire share pool, it's no real surprise to see the South32 share price take a huge hit in its aftermath.
The South32 share price has had a decent, if bumpy, ride over the past 12 months. The stock has a wide 52-week range, trading as low as $2.75 and as high as $4.02 a share.
Since this time last year, the miner has risen by a healthy 10.03%. Check it out for yourself below:
At the current stock price, South32 shares are trading on a trailing dividend yield of 1.53%.
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