Thanks to negative offshore leads, the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX:XJO) has given back some of yesterday's strong gains and is trading 0.3% lower to 5,515 points.
The majority of sectors are currently in negative territory with the gold, energy and healthcare sectors being the worst performing sectors today.
Four shares that have been hit particularly hard today include:
Ramelius Resources Limited (ASX: RMS)
Shares of the gold producer have crashed nearly 9.5% today after the company announced it had successfully raised $25 million via an institutional placement. The funds were raised at an issue price of 50 cents a share with the proceeds to be used to fast-track both Mt Magnet project development and brownfields exploration. Today's price action perhaps reflects the disappointment from retail investor's being excluded from the capital raising along with an overnight fall in the spot gold price. The shares are currently trading slightly above the offer price at 52.5 cents per share.
iSentia Group Ltd (ASX: ISD)
iSentia shares are suffering another day of heavy losses with the shares down by more than 7% today. Interestingly, the media monitoring and intelligence company has not released any market news and there does not appear to be an obvious reason for this week's sell-off. Trading volumes have increased over the past few trading sessions and this could indicate that a substantial holder or fund manager is trying to exit their position ahead of a crucial earnings report next month. In any case, investors should watch this share closely as any further falls from here could create an attractive buying opportunity.
Seven West Media Ltd (ASX: SWM)
Seven West Media shares have fallen by more than 3.6% today following the announcement overnight that its joint venture partner, Yahoo Inc. will be acquired by Verizon in the United States. Yahoo provides an important digital platform for the media company and it is unclear at the stage what impact the acquisition will have on the partnership moving forward. Despite Seven West Media stating it is well placed to move ahead independently of Yahoo, investors are clearly concerned about the uncertainty this transaction creates in the short term.
Woolworths Limited (ASX: WOW)
Following a stunning share price increase yesterday, shares of Woolworths have come back down to earth today and are trading more than 3.2% lower to $23.50. A number of brokers have downgraded their forecasts on the back of yesterday's operational update and questions still remain as to whether or not these measures will begin to improve top line growth in the face of significant price deflation. Competition amongst the supermarket chains is also unlikely to subside in the near term and this could continue to place pressure on Woolworths' margins. Despite today's fall, it is interesting to note that the shares have still managed to climb more than 15% over the past month.
