Last week on the Australian stock market was a story of massive volatility following renewed falls in the oil and iron ore price, and the shock decision by the Swiss government to cease suppressing the value of the Franc versus the Euro.
The S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX: XJO) fell every day to end 3.17% lower over the week and took some big names with it!
A number of miners that are exposed to the falling iron ore and oil price hit new 12-month lows, with Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) down 17% to $2.31, Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) down 9.3% to $53.89, Origin Energy Ltd (ASX: ORG) and Orica Ltd (ASX: ORI) down over 8.5%, and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) down 8% over the week to end at $34.16, perilously close to its 12-month low of $33.90.
Outside of resources stocks were an interesting array of industrial and insurance stocks that the market appears to have lost confidence in.
Australian and US building products manufacturer James Hardie Industries plc (ASX: JHX) fell nearly 10.5% over the five trading days to finish Friday at $11.85, just a few percent away from its 12-month low of $11.16. Investors may be concerned about recent press reports proposing a correlation between oil prices and US housing starts, however there appears little reason for last week's fall.
Meanwhile, Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) and SEEK Limited (ASX: SEK) pulled back by around 7.5% each following extremely strong 2014 performances in the absence of any meaningful news.
Finally, QBE Insurance Group Ltd (ASX: QBE) fell a surprisingly 7.5% over the week to within touching distance of its 12-month low of $10.13. A report by the Financial Standard noted the role that competitors might enter the global insurance market in the coming years. Google's potential comparison service could hamper demand for QBE's products, but the real trouble would come from Google directly entering the insurance market.
