The Australian sharemarket is creeping gradually higher as the session progresses after a relatively flat start. Up just over 0.3%, the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) is in line for its sixth consecutive session in the black, while the ALL ORDINARIES (Index: ^AXAO) (ASX: XAO) has also risen 0.3% so far.
Unfortunately, there are a number of companies that haven't been so lucky today, including these four…
Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) has fallen another 3.1%, compounding its 10.1% slide on Monday. Newcrest's heavy fall comes after gold hit its lowest price in five years on Monday with further falls anticipated in light of a strengthening US greenback and a decline in global economic uncertainty.
Bradken Limited (ASX: BKN) has been the worst-performing stock from the ASX 200 group, sliding a painful 9.7% to $1.215. Bradken operates in the mining services industry which is facing strong headwinds as miners increasingly take their service roles in-house to reduce costs. With commodity prices plummeting, those headwinds are only going to get stronger.
OZ Minerals Limited (ASX: OZL) fell 2.1% to $3.73 despite announcing a strong production result for copper during its second quarter operations. OZ Minerals, which produces copper as well as gold and silver, produced 32,991 tonnes of copper during the three-month period, although its gold production fell significantly.
G8 Education Ltd (ASX: GEM) rose an impressive 13.6% last week as investors piled back into the company following a heavy 10-month decline. With growing concerns regarding the company's ability to continue funding new acquisitions and dividends it seems that some investors may be taking the opportunity to take their profits off the table, selling the stock down 1.7%.
