S&P/ASX 200 sinks: 8 stocks you should have been watching

S&P/ASX 300 reverses yesterday's rise and closes down 0.5%

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 November 1, 2016 5:09 pm AEDT

The S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) closed down 0.5% reversing most of yesterday's 0.6% gain.

Here's a quick recap:

S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) down 0.5% to 5,290.5 points
ALL ORDINARIES (Index: ^AXAO) (ASX: XAO) down 0.5% to 5,375.2 points
AUD/USD at US 76.05 cents
Iron Ore up 0.7% to US$64.38 a tonne, according to the Metal Bulletin
Gold was flat at US$1,275 an ounce
Brent oil down again – this time it was 2.8% lower at US$48.32 a barrel

The RBA kept the official cash rate on hold today, but did note that inflation is expected to gradually rise over the next two years.

Lithium play Orocobre Limited (ASX: ORE) dropped 9.9% to $3.45, giving back some of the gains from yesterday.

Vita Group Limited (ASX: VTG) fell again – this time losing 9.5% to $3.70 – with more potentially negative news coming from the company.

Bellamy's Australia Ltd (ASX: BAL) continues to sink, losing another 3.6% to $10.96 – a long way off the baby formula company's 52-week high of $16.50.

Oil stocks were also a drag on the index, with Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) losing 1.7% to $3.51, Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) and BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) lost 1.2% to $22.80.

On the flipside, miner Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) was up 2 cents to $54.20 and South32 Ltd (ASX: S32) added 2.3% to close at $2.63.

Here are Tuesday's top stories:

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