The S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX:XJO) has taken a dramatic turn for the worse today after early polling results suggested a Trump victory is not out of the question.
The main index was trading 2% lower at the time of writing, with gold (unsurprisingly) being the only sector in positive territory.
Quite a number of shares are getting smashed today, including:
Aristocrat Leisure Limited (ASX: ALL)
Aristocrat Leisure shares have crashed more than 11.5% today after the gaming company announced that its current CEO, Jamie Odell, would depart in February 2017. Trevor Croker has been appointed as the new CEO and a transition process has already begun to ensure a smooth changeover. Nevertheless, investors are obviously disappointed with the news as Mr Odell has created a huge amount of shareholder value during his time in charge.
News Corp (ASX: NWS)
Shares of News Corp have fallen 5.1% today in what appears to be a delayed response to yesterday's subdued first quarter result. With the exception of another better-than-expected result from REA Group Limited (ASX: REA), the media company reported a 21% decline in total segment EBITDA, driven by the weak print advertising market and increased programming rights costs. With today's decline, News Corp shares have fallen around 27% over the past 12 months.
Mayne Pharma Group Ltd (ASX: MYX)
Mayne Pharm shares have continued their volatile streak today after falling 8.2% to $1.50. The generic drug company is currently involved in a US investigation into price collusion which could see the company face serious legal action. Although Mayne Pharm believes the investigation is unlikely to have a meaningful impact on the company's earnings, the uncertainty surrounding the situation is clearly sending some investors to the exits.
Mantra Group Ltd (ASX: MTR)
Mantra shares have fallen more than 6.3% today, despite no specific news being released by the company. In fairness, a number of other smaller cap shares have also been hit hard in conjunction with the broader market sell off including Bapcor Ltd (ASX: BAP) – down 6.2%, Nextdc Ltd (ASX: NXT) – down 7.2% and Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) – down 5.7%. It appears investors are preferring the safety of some of the larger name shares today, despite their inferior growth prospects.
