Best and worst stocks on the ASX at midday

The ASX had a quiet started to the final trading session of the week, with the S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) down 0.09% at midday.

Overnight on Wall Street, US stocks fluctuated between positive and negative territory, before closing slightly lower as investors awaited Friday's jobs report.

There is little major news or data out today, although Ukraine's troubles continue to make headlines and investment bank Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) has released a strong full-year profit number of $1.27 billion.

Sectors are mixed. Financials, health care, industrials and consumer staples are higher; all other sectors are lower.

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

• Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE) has jumped 10.3% to $4.23
• Transfield Services Limited (ASX: TSE) has rallied 6% to $1.06
• NRW Holdings Limited (ASX: NWH) has climbed 3.7% to $1.13
• Primary Health Care Limited (ASX: PRY)  has gained 2.9% to $4.67
• Reject Shop Ltd (ASX: TRS) is up 2.6% to $10.13

These are the five worst performing stocks at midday today:

• Beadell Resources Ltd (ASX: BDR) has dropped 4.5% to 63 cents
• Evolution FPO (ASX: EVN) has fallen 4.5% to 81.2 cents
• Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN) has lost 4.4% to 43 cents
• Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) has declined 4% to $1.08
• PanAust Limited (ASX: PNA) is down 3.8% to $1.53