Local investor sentiment has been dampened by weak offshore leads today and this has seen the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX:XJO) trade sharply lower for the second day in a row. At around lunchtime, the benchmark index was trading 0.7% lower to 5,619 points.
The gold sector has been the only bright spot today, with particularly heavy falls coming from the energy and materials sectors.
Despite the market weakness, these four shares have managed to post solid gains:
Bellamy's Australia Ltd (ASX: BAL)
Shares of Bellamy's have spiked more than 6.5% today, despite the absence of any news from company. It appears bargain hunters might be stepping up to the plate today on the basis that the shares may have finally bottomed out last week. I wouldn't be so confident that is the case however, as the company still faces a very tough road back in regaining the confidence of investors.
Freelancer Ltd (ASX: FLN)
Shares of Freelancer have climbed 3.9% today after the company delivered a strong quarterly update. Cash receipts in the December quarter grew to $13 million with full year receipts growing 35% year-on-year to $51.9 million. Importantly, Freelancer's operations ended the year being cash flow positive and the company has started the new year off with no net debt and $35 million of cash in the bank. Despite today's gains, the shares have still slumped around 40% over the past 12 months.
Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG)
Shares of Fortescue have jumped 2.8% today after the iron ore miner released an impressive December quarterly activities report. Not only is Fortescue on track to meet its 165-170 million tonne production target for FY17, it also managed to lower its quartely operating costs to just US$12.54/wet metric tonne (wmt). This is the 12th consecutive quarter the company has managed to lower its operating costs and compares favourably to the current iron ore price of around US$83/tonne.
Servcorp Limited (ASX: SRV)
After taking a massive dive yesterday, shares of Servcorp have rebounded more than 4.4% today. It comes after the managed office provider announced a pretty hefty profit downgrade as a result of difficult trading conditions in the U.S. and South East Asia. As highlighted here, Servcorp is a cyclical business and investors buying shares today must be confident that global economic conditions will not deteriorate from here. Despite today's gains, the shares have still fallen around 20% since the start of the year.
