The local bourse had a weak start to the day with the S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) down 0.1% at lunchtime.
The soft market follows a weak lead from Wall Street overnight where the S&P 500 bounced between positive and negative territory throughout the session. The ASX has also been influenced by economic data showing a surge in retail sales in January which were three times higher than many analysts had been forecasting.
Here are the top five best performing stocks in the index at midday today:
- Medusa Mining Limited (ASX: MML) is up 3.8% to $2.47
- Western Areas Ltd (ASX: WSA) has gained 3.6% to $3.45
- Paladin Energy Ltd. (ASX: PDN) has risen 3.5% to 58.5 cents
- Leighton Holdings Limited (ASX: LEI) has added 3.3% to $18.81
- SEEK Limited (ASX: SEK) has climbed 2.9% to $17.92
These are the five worst performing stocks at midday today:
- Acrux Limited (ASX: ACR) has sunk 10% to $1.88
- Mermaid Marine Australia Limited (ASX: MRM) has dropped 3.4% to $2.29
- Beadell Resources Ltd (ASX: BDR) has lost 2.5% to 77 cents
- SMS Management & Technology Limited (ASX: SMX) has declined 2% to $3.84
- DuluxGroup Limited (ASX: DLX) has slipped 2% to $5.35
