The Australian sharemarket is back on top today following what proved to be one of the market's most severe sell-offs in recent memory.
Despite heavy falls in international equity markets overnight, the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) and ALL ORDINARIES (Index: ^AXAO) (ASX: XAO) indices rose 0.7% and 0.6% respectively, giving investors a much needed chance to catch their breaths.
Unfortunately, conditions were not so kind to these five stocks which bucked the trend…
Slater & Gordon Limited (ASX: SGH) fell deeper into the red as investors grew increasingly concerned a pending investigation by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission will uncover further accounting errors. The stock dropped 5.8%, giving it a total decline of 46% over the last week.
Gage Roads Brewing Co Limited (ASX: GRB) fell another 5%, taking its shares to a new low of just 3.8 cents. Gage Roads has been a serial underperformer for investors with its shares falling a massive 76% since the beginning of the year on falling sales and volumes, together with the altered working capital strategy being undertaken by its major customer Woolworths Limited (ASX: WOW). Despite the heavily discounted price, investors would be wise to give this one a miss, in my opinion.
Gold miners were amongst the biggest casualties for the day, with Beadell Resources Limited (ASX: BDR), Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) and EVOLUTION FPO (ASX: EVN) falling 7.5%, 5.2% and 4.6% respectively.
Gold is seen as a hedge against inflation and is a common 'safe haven' amongst investors when uncertainty arises around the global economy. Markets have been shaken violently as a result of the Greek debt crisis and the potential 'Grexit', which refers to the European nation's exit from the Eurozone.
Investors may be recognising that the sell-off has been overdone and returning to the share market where there are a number of bargains to be found. This was highlighted by the ASX 200's afternoon rally as confidence returned to the market.
