There were no surprises when the S&P/ASX 200 opened in the red today after the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 666 points on Friday.
Tech and resource stocks took it particularly badly, with the five biggest falls at the time of writing coming from:
Western Areas Limited (ASX: WSA)
Nickel sulphite producer Western Areas is down 5.4% to $3.17 on February 5 after a slow and steady climb upwards in the last 6 months from a price low of $1.94 in late June 2017.
Western Areas released an activity report for the period ending 31 December 2017 in late January which showed FY18 guidance metrics on track for the 30th consecutive quarter and their mill recovery enhancement project running on time and budget.
Western Area's share price is likely suffering from widespread nickel market volatility, but the medium to long-term forecast seems to be positively skewed.
Independence Group NL (ASX: IGO)
Nickel, copper and zinc miner Independence Group opened down 4.2% on February 5 to $4.70, a slide of almost 10% from its January high of $5.20.
Independence posted strong quarterly results on January 31 with sales revenue at $78.3 million, up from $46.5 million in the previous quarter, however cash from operating activities took a hit due to shipment delays.
Independence Group reports its nickel production is within guidance and its gold production above guidance, but copper production is falling short of expectations.
The mineral exploration company's relatively strong position has failed to be represented in its share price this month.
Lynas Corporation Limited (ASX: LYC)
Rare earth mineral miner Lynas Corp dropped 4.3% to sit at just over $2 after somewhat volatile share prices in the past 6 months.
Lynas added more than 13 million shares to its registry last week as it converted a portion of its convertible bonds into equity, but logged a negative cashflow of $12.01 million for its December 2017 quarter, which may knock shareholder sentiment for some time yet.
Orocobre Ltd (ASX: ORE)
The mining exploration company focusing on lithium, potash and boron projects slid 4.6% to $6.79 after a fairly steady few months of price gains throughout late 2017.
Most lithium shares took a beating in January as oversupply rumours circulated and Orocobre was not immune, dropping to $6.48 on January 19 with more corrections expected as the global lithium supply remains volatile.
Galaxy Resources Limited (ASX: GXY)
The global lithium producer with hard rock mines and brine assets in Australia, Canada and Argentina opened as the weakest share among the top 200 today, down 4.4% at $3.06 – a drop of 31% from its January 10 high of $4.46.
Late last year Galaxy asserted itself as one of the best performers on the market after a steady climb from a late August low of $1.72 to cap off the 2017 calendar year at $3.83. Some brokers labelled it as a strong buy alongside lithium peers Orocobre Limited (ASX: ORE), Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) and Kidman Resources Ltd (ASX: KDR).
The Galaxy share price has been on a gradual slide throughout January but analysts have named the company's James Bay resource upgrade as a positive move, with recommendations rising from neutral to accumulate in late December.
