3 ASX stocks that beat the falling market yesterday

It was a tough day for investors, the market plunging 2%, but there were some winners.

Mike King

Mike King is a Fool.com.au Investment Analyst and Writer. He caught the investing bug more than a decade ago, at a time when the U.S. had invaded Iraq and fear reigned in the markets. His initial success as the markets took off encouraged his passion and thirst for knowledge. With 13 years behind him at one of Australia's largest domestic banks, Mike's passion for stocks led him to join a boutique funds management firm, where he stayed for four years. A seven-year stint in equity research at one of the largest investment banks in the world followed that, giving Mike a thirst to pursue his passion further. Mike holds a Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment and a Graduate Certificate in Financial Planning. His passion is to help retail investors invest better, and that passion was one of his primary reasons for joining The Motley Fool Australia in late 2011. Mike has written thousands of articles since joining, including for Fairfax Media, Yahoo!7, Ninemsn and has also appeared on ABC's The Business. You can see all of Mikes' holdings here

Published May 8, 2012 12:08 pm AEST

The S&P / ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) plunged over 2% yesterday, thanks to a poor night on Wall Street, amid worries over French and Greek elections. Just seven stocks in the ASX 200 index managed to post positive gains. Here we take a look at the top three.

Cabcharge Australia Limited (ASX: CAB) rose 25 cents or 4% to close at $6.48, continuing its recent rise. In the last six months, the company's share price has climbed by over 50%.

There doesn't appear to be any catalyst for the rise yesterday, with no news or announcements. In March 2012, Cabcharge reported a 58% rise in net profit for the six months to December 2011. The company is virtually untouched by global market gyrations. It appears that investors regard it as a "safe-haven" stock and have piled into it in recent times.

Energy World Corporation Limited (ASX: EWC) rose 1 cent or 2.2% to close at 47 cents. EWC has received three ASX speeding tickets in the last four weeks, regarding falling prices. The company's shares have fallen over 42% since 20th March 2012. Why the stock rose, who knows, but EWC remains a stock for gamblers only.

Dexus Property Group (ASX: DXS) also rose 1 cent or 1.1% to close at 94 cents and has risen 8% over the past month. Dexus announced earlier this month that it was selling 65 US industrial assets to Blackstone for US$770m, and will undertake a 5% or $200m buy back of shares. The company also announced that it is restructuring its US debt, which will reduce gearing by 6% to 26%.

Four other stocks posting rises were Telecom Corporation of New Zealand Limited (ASX: TEL), Ramsay Health Care Limited (ASX: RHC), BWP Trust Limited (ASX: BWP) and Resolute Mining Limited (ASX: RSG).

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