The S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has fallen swiftly in morning trade to be down 1% at noon. The falls follow a weak session on Wall Street overnight where U.S. stocks fell after a number of high profile companies missed earnings estimates.
On the economic front, investors today have been digesting retail sales data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which showed a rise in March, and the release of the AIG-HIA Performance of Construction Index which showed activity slipped in March.
Mining stocks have led the ASX down today with BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) and Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) both over 1% lower. Most of the big four banks have managed to hold their losses to less than 1%. At noon, all sectors were in the red.
Here are five of the best performing stocks in the index at midday today:
- Kathmandu Holdings Ltd (ASX: KMD) has climbed 4.8% to $3.68
- Skilled Group Ltd. (ASX: SKE) has gained 3% to $2.71
- Santos Limited (ASX: STO) has added 1.3% to $14.12
- Downer EDI Limited (ASX: DOW) has risen 1.3% to $5.14
- Aquila Resources Limited (ASX: AQA) is up 1% to $3.40
These are five of the worst performing stocks in the index at midday today:
- Lynas Corporation Limited (ASX: LYC) has dropped 8.7% to 13.7 cents
- Henderson Group plc (ASX: HGG) has lost 5.8% to $4.37
- ARB Corporation Limited (ASX: ARP) has declined 3.9% to $11.68
- Atlas Iron Limited (ASX: AGO) has slipped 3.8% to 83.7 cents
- Sandfire Resources NL (ASX: SFR) is down 3.6% to $5.59
