Despite a weak lead from Wall Street overnight the ASX has headed higher in morning trade. At lunchtime the S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) is up 0.07%.
Overnight on Wall Street, investors appeared concerned by weak housing data. Even above expectation results from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ: FB) failed to inspire buyers.
The major banks had a mixed morning with performance acting as a drag on the financial sector; consumer staples and telecommunication services are also lower. All other sectors are higher.
Here are the top five best performing stocks in the index at midday today:
- Goodman Fielder Ltd (ASX: GFF) has risen 6.7% to $0.56
- Atlas Iron Limited (ASX: AGO) has gained 4.4% to $0.99
- Transfield Services Limited (ASX: TSE) has added 4.2% to $0.87
- Resolute Mining Limited (ASX: RSG) is up 4% to $0.64
- G8 Education Ltd (ASX: GEM) has climbed 3.9% to $4.74
These are the five worst performing stocks at midday today: