The S&P / ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) is up slightly, rising 0.2% to 5,196.6 with the utilities sector jumping 2%, while both the materials and metals & mining sectors saw rises of more than 1%. The gold sector was the worst performer, dropping 1.3%.
Here are the top five best performing stocks in the index today.
- Ausdrill (ASX:ASL) climbed 15% to $1.805
- Transfield Services (ASX:TSE) continues to surge, rising 8.4% today to $1.36
- Cudeco (ASX:CDU) added 6.4% to $1.66
- NRW Holdings (ASX:NWH) rose 6.1% to $1.57
- Atlas Iron (ASX:AGO) moved up 5.7% to 83.5 cents
These stocks were the losers on the day.
- Discovery Metals (ASX:DML) dropped 10.7% to 12.5 cents
- Perseus Mining (ASX:PRU) fell 9.2% to 69.5 cents
- Northern Star Resources (ASX:NST) lost 7.8% to 88.5 cents
- Alacer Gold Corp (ASX:AQG) slipped 4.8% to $3.38
- Super Retail Group (ASX:SUL) closed down 4.6% to $12.02
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Motley Fool writer/analyst Mike King doesn't own shares in any companies mentioned.