The ASX has started the week down after a sharp sell-off on Wall Street last Friday which saw US stocks walloped. The Dow Jones ended the day down 0.96%, the S&P 500 plunged 1.25% and the Nasdaq took a beating, losing 2.6% as tech stocks were sold off heavily. Earlier in the session US stocks had popped higher after the release of US non-farm payrolls data which suggested hiring was continuing to gain albeit at a rate slower than in 2013.
In a further sign that global markets are addicted to central bank support, European stocks rallied on Friday for an eighth straight day as speculation continued that the European Central Bank was close to launching another quantitative easing program in an attempt to kick start inflation in the region.
At lunchtime on Monday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) is holding up better than expected given the lead from the US with the index down just 0.21%.
Here are the top five best performing stocks in the index at midday today:
- Bradken Limited (ASX: BKN) has added 4% to $4.63
- Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) has climbed 3.2% to $10.24
- Regis Resources Limited (ASX: RRL) has risen 2.5% to $2.27
- Aquila Resources Limited (ASX: AQA) is up 1.9% to $2.62
- Resolute Mining Limited (ASX: RSG) has gained 1.7% to 58.5 cents
These are the five worst performing stocks at midday today:
