It was a stellar month for the S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: XJO), rising 5.71% over March and is just down just 1.16% for the year.
Some companies bounced back to life, while others had share prices reverse.
Here was the best and worst-performing ASX 200 share during March.
1. Uniti Group Ltd (ASX: UWL)
It was an eventful month for fibre owner-operator Uniti Group, with the company receiving not one but two takeover bids.
The business received a $4.50 per share offer from Morrison
& Co
. However it was unlikely this would get across the line given the Uniti share price traded above this level in January.
Then Macquarie Infrastructure stormed in with a $5.00 per share bid. But Uniti had little interest given Macquarie also owns indirect competitor Vocus.
To prevent Macquarie from access to its books, Uniti negotiated with Morrison & Co to up its offer to $5.00 per share and lock in exclusive talks.
Could a third bidder emerge? Shareholders certainly hope so.
But the bid could also fall through, given it still remains non-binding.
Nonetheless, for ASX 200 investors who purchased in March, a 43% return is a very hand profit.
2. Nickel Mines Ltd (ASX: NIC)
The Nickel Mines shares price fell 18% in March after the global nickel market rocketed.
Why would the Nickel Mines share price go down if the price of Nickel is going up you may ask?
Usually, this author avoids hyperbole, but this story is truly gobsmacking.
The largest nickel producer of Nickel Mines, Tsingshan was caught up in a short squeeze, which led to the nickel prices increasing 4-times in just two days.
In simple terms, Tsingshan had made a bet the Nickel market would go down.
The market went up, and so Tsingshan had to cover its position.
Except there wasn’t sufficient liquidity and Tsingshan had to keep purchasing contracts at an ever-increasing price only amplifying the losses.
Eventually, the London Metal Exchange paused trading. And the matter was resolved – somewhat controversially.
So how does this impact Nickel Mines?
Tsignshan is Nickel Mines largest shareholder and buyer.
If Tsingshan became insolvent, there’s every chance Nickel Mines shares would need to be sold and it would have no buyer.
The aforementioned volatility also led to the company cancelling its share purchase plan, further disheartening shareholders.
The market is yet to be convinced that the volatility is over. And hence the Nickel Mines share price was the worst-performing ASX 200 share in March.
