The S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) is 0.14% higher at noon today, despite a negative lead overnight from Wall Street which saw the Dow Jones sink 0.94% and the S&P 500 decline 0.74% as investors took risk off the table in the face of the Russia-Ukraine stand-off.
On the local market, news that the ACCC has blocked AGL's acquisition of Macquarie Generation saw the energy retailer's stock sold down; while the release of Australian Bureau of Statistics' data showing a strong reading for Building Approvals in January has helped boost building material stocks today.
Here are the top five best performing stocks in the index at midday today:
- Kathmandu Holdings Ltd (ASX: KMD) has risen 3.2% to $3.26
- BlueScope Steel Limited (ASX: BSL) has gained 2.7% to $6.07
- Fletcher Building Limited (ASX: FBU) has added 2.5% to $9.02
- Seven Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: SVW) has climbed 2.4% to $8.40
- Alacer Gold Corp (ASX: AQG) is up 2.3% to $3.07
These are the five worst performing stocks at midday today:
- Envestra Limited (ASX: ENV) is down 8.7% to $1.15
- Medusa Mining Limited (ASX: MML) has slipped 3.7% to $2.37
- Wotif.com Holdings Limited (ASX: WTF) has declined 3.1% to $2.48
- Beadell Resources Ltd (ASX: BDR) has dropped 3% to 81.5 cents
- AGL Energy Ltd (ASX: AGK) has lost 2.9% to $14.97
