Best and worst stocks on the ASX today

ASX ends flat after RBA governor gives shares a boost

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 July 30, 2013 4:32 pm AEST

The S&P / ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has closed flat at 5,047.2, with stocks recovering after RBA governor Glenn Stevens hinted that Australian policymakers see no serious impediments to further cuts in the official cash rate to spur on the economy. Markets are now 90% certain a rate cut is coming as early as next week.

Here are the top five best performing stocks in the index.

Billabong International (ASX:BBG) climbed 7.8% to 41.5 cents
Fleetwood Corporation (ASX:FWD) rose 6.5% to $3.91
Resolute Mining (ASX:RSG) added 5.6% to finish at 85 cents
Medusa Mining (ASX:MML) closed up 5.6% at $2.28
Regis Resources (ASX:RRL) finished up 5.1% at $3.49

These stocks were the losers on the day.

McMillan Shakespeare (ASX:MMS) slumped by 6.7% to close at $8.75
Whitehaven Coal (ASX:WHC) ended down 5% at $1.995
St Barbara (ASX:SBM) dropped 5% to 48 cents
Metcash Limited (ASX:MTS) fell 4.6% to $3.50
Linc Energy (ASX:LNC) lost 4.4% to $1.625

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Motley Fool writer/analyst Mike King doesn't own shares in any companies mentioned.

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