Best and worst stocks on the ASX at midday

A slightly negative lead from Wall Street overnight has flowed through to a tepid morning on the local bourse today. At lunch time the S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) was flat, showing a gain of just 0.06%.

A number of big name companies have released their earnings results on Wednesday, including Westfield Group (ASX: WDC) and Worleyparsons Limited (ASX: WOR). Sectors have been mixed, with falls amongst the miners and strength amongst the financials.

Here are the top five best performing stocks in the index at lunchtime today:

• Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN) has jumped 22.5% to 54.5 cents
• Worleyparsons Limited (ASX: WOR) is up 6.9% to $16.56
• Ramsay Health Care Ltd  (ASX: RHC) has climbed 4.6% to $49.75
• Transfield Services Limited (ASX: TSE) has added 4.4% to 94 cents
• Cabcharge Australia Limited (ASX: CAB) has gained 4.2% to $4.45

These are the five worst performing stocks at lunchtime today:

• BC Iron Ltd (ASX: BCI) has lost 5.3% to $4.96
• Lend Lease Group (ASX: LLC) has dropped 4.2% to $11.08
• Decmil Group Limited (ASX: DCG) has fallen 4.2% to $2.04
• Virtus Health Ltd (ASX: VRT) is down 4.1% to $8.10
• Regis Resources Limited (ASX: RRL) has slipped 3.8% to $2.63