It's been a woeful day for investors who have watched the stock market plunge by as much as 1.7%. The S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) is once again hovering near the 5500 point mark, down from nearly 5600 as of yesterday's close, while the broader ALL ORDINARIES (Index: ^AXAO) (ASX: XAO) has also been pummelled.
Although the losses have been widespread with very few companies trading in the black, these four companies have been hit particularly hard.
Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) has plunged 4.3% to $2.125 after the iron ore price continued its steady decline overnight, ending the session around US$61 a tonne. Investors are likely concerned that this could be the beginning of another steep decline and are (perhaps wisely) are removing themselves from potential trouble.
G8 Education Ltd (ASX: GEM) bounced strongly as a result of the Federal Budget (which announced extra funding to the childcare sector), but has since been sold back down towards its 52-week low levels. The stock is down 4.2% today at just $3.45, which represents a 39% decline since September 2014. Investors could certainly look at this low price as an opportunity to buy.
Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) has plunged 2.7% to trade at $40.29, putting it within 2% of hitting a new 52-week low. It's likely that the stock has fallen so severely as a result of numerous analyst downgrades on rival Woolworths Limited (ASX: WOW), after it released another profit warning yesterday. Given the pace at which rival Aldi is picking up market share (thanks to its competitive prices), investors are likely thinking that Wesfarmers will be next.
Ten Network Holdings Limited (ASX: TEN) has been the biggest casualty from the ASX 200 group, falling a further 10.6% to just 21 cents (down from 26.5 cents last week). The free-to-air broadcaster recently said it would sell an up-to-15% stake of its business to Foxtel for $77 million. In order to do so however, it will issue new shares at just 15 cents per unit which is a huge discount even from today's deflated price.
