In Friday's trading session on Wall Street the Dow Jones was slammed 1.5%, the S&P 500 dropped 1.1% and the Nasdaq sunk 1.5% at the close. It was an even direr situation during the intra-day trade with both the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq registering falls of almost 2% at one point.
Meanwhile in China over the weekend news came to light that the People's Bank of China had reduced banking capital requirements in an effort to stimulate lending and boost a sluggish economy.
The action on Wall Street has definitely set a sour tone for the opening of Monday's trade on the ASX. Early this morning the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) futures were showing a loss of 47 points. There will almost certainly be more losers than winners today, here are a few stocks worth keeping an eye on:
The gold price has jumped 0.5% to US$1,204 an ounce which could spell an up day for gold mining giant Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM).
Numerous stocks hit fresh 52-week highs last week including Australia's largest beef producer Australian Agricultural Company Ltd (ASX: AAC) and fellow primary producer Select Harvests Limited (ASX: SHV). While these stocks may continue to enjoy positive momentum in the medium term, in the short term they could experience profit taking and a pullback as investors head for safety.
Likewise, stocks such as Greencross Limited (ASX: GXL) and Woolworths Limited (ASX: WOW) which hit 52-week lows last week may struggle to find support today. Although value investors and bottom fishers might be getting tempted, they may choose not to pull the 'buy trigger' on these stocks today in case there are further falls to come this week.
