The local market's three-day rally has come to an abrupt halt today with the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) falling in a big way, reversing most of the gains recognised over the course of this week.
The benchmark index plunged by as much as 1.9%, slipping to a low of 5,491 points before recovering some dignity to hover around the 5,520 point mark. The ALL ORDINARIES (Index: ^AXAO) (ASX: XAO) also slipped 1.3% in what was a day most investors would prefer to forget.
However, there were some companies that managed to eke out reasonable gains for the day, including these four…
Affinity Education Group Ltd (ASX: AFJ) was one of the market's worst performing stocks on Thursday following a severe profit downgrade but it has managed to recover 25.9% today following a takeover offer from rival G8 Education Ltd (ASX: GEM). The company has since recommended shareholders take no action to G8's offer, labelling it as "highly opportunistic". Watch this space for an update on the latest developments.
Asciano Ltd (ASX: AIO) rose 1.7% after Credit Suisse lifted its price target to $9 per share from $7.40. The company recently received a takeover offer from US-listed Brookfield Infrastructure Partners valuing the business at $9.05 per share, although it is unclear whether the transaction will go ahead or whether it will fund the transaction by issuing its own shares.
Slater & Gordon Limited (ASX: SGH) has managed to regain some respectability in the latter half of this week after losing nearly half its value on reports of an investigation into its operations by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (among other issues). The stock has risen 1.1% today with the shares rising a total of 16% since hitting a low of $3.29 on Tuesday.
Myob Group Ltd (ASX: MYO) was one of the most hyped public floats of 2015, but the stock has generated very little interest in the time since its initial public offering (IPO). It recently hit a low of $3.21 but has managed to regain 8.1% to trade at $3.47. It's up 0.9% for the day with some investors perhaps seeing value at its current price tag.
While there is no way of predicting the market's movements next week or over the next month, investors should ensure they're prepared for further volatility, whether that comes as a result of the situation unfolding in Greece, falling commodity prices or indeed, something entirely different.
