Thanks to positive offshore leads, Australian investors are enjoying a solid day of gains with the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) managing to climb around 0.4% higher.
Despite this, some shares have been left out of today's rally and are trading sharply lower including:
Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST)
Northern Star, along with a number of other gold producers, has been hit hard today as it suffers from a double whammy – a lower gold price and a higher Australian dollar. Its shares have been particularly hard hit though, losing more than 11% to make it the worst-performing stock on the S&P/ASX 200 index. Despite today's fall, Northern Star remains one of the top-performing stocks over the past 12 months and it appears some investors are looking to lock in profits, while the share price is still relatively strong.
Slater & Gordon Limited (ASX: SGH)
Another day and another large fall for the embattled law firm. The shares have lost more than 7% today and are now trading at 32 cents – down 96% from its 52-week high of $8.07. Investors are clearly concerned about the future viability of the company and whether or not it will be able to negotiate a deal with its bankers. In any case, Slater & Gordon is facing a monstrous task to turn things around and the current management team face a number of serious questions from investors who have seen their capital vanish into thin air.
G8 Education Ltd (ASX: GEM)
Shares of the childcare centre operator have lost more than 3.4% today despite no news being released by the company. G8 Education's shares have enjoyed a strong rally since the release of its full year FY15 results back in February and today's pull-back appears to be the result of profit taking. The company acquired 44 centres in 2015 and has plans to acquire between $50 million and $150 million in centre acquisitions during 2016.
Monadelphous Group Limited (ASX: MND)
Shares of Monadelphous have fallen 4.5% today despite the company not releasing any market sensitive information since announcing its half-year results back in mid-February. As activity in the resources and infrastructure sectors has slowed, the shares have becoming increasingly volatile and today is a clear example of this. The company reported a 38% fall in first half FY16 profits and it expects market conditions to remain competitive and challenging as miners and drillers reduce their capital expenditure and instead focus on improving production efficiency.
