Best and worst stocks on the ASX today

ASX closes up 0.2%, with the gold sector 4.9% higher

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 August 26, 2013 4:26 pm AEST

The S&P / ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has added 0.2% to 5,135.4, with the gold sector jumping 4.9% after the spot gold price climbed over the weekend. A slump in US home sales could also see the US Federal Reserve delay its planned tapering of economic stimulus measures.

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

St Barbara (ASX:SBM) shot up 17.7% to 93 cents
Medusa Mining (ASX:MML) rose 6.9% to $2.80
Kingsgate Consolidated (ASX:KCN) added 6% to $2.81
Horizon Oil (ASX:HZN) climbed 5.9% to 36 cents
Mineral Deposits (ASX:MDL) moved up 5.8% to $2.72

These stocks were the losers on the day.

Boart Longyear (ASX:BLY) plunged 11.7% to 49 cents
M2 Telecommunications (ASX:MTU) lost 4.8% to $6.72
WorleyParsons (ASX:WOR) fell 4.5% to $22.08
Energy World Corporation (ASX:EWC) dropped 4% to 48.5 cents
Western Areas (ASX:WSA) slipped 3.8% to $3.30

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Motley Fool writer/analyst Mike King owns shares in Kingsgate Consolidated and M2 Telecommunications.

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