Best and worst stocks on the ASX today

ASX closes up 0.1% as investors await the outcome of the US Fed Reserve meeting tonight

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 September 17, 2013 4:23 pm AEST

The S&P / ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has managed to post a positive day, rising 0.1% to finish at 5,251.2, after falling at the start of trade. Investors most likely sat on the sidelines awaiting the news from the US Federal Reserve's board meeting beginning later today (AEST), with no clear view emerging of whether the bank will announce a start to taper quantitative easing.

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

TPG Telecom (ASX:TPM) rocketed up 14.3% to $4.23
Cudeco (ASX:CDU) climbed 5.5% to $2.12
FKP Property Group (ASX:FKP) rose 4.3% to $1.45
Charter Hall Group (ASX:CHC) added 3.9% to $3.71
Karoon Gas (ASX:KAR) finished up 3.5% at $5.35

These stocks were the losers on the day.

St Barbara (ASX:SBM) dropped 9% to 55.5 cents
Sirius Resources (ASX:SIR) lost 7.6% to $2.67
Regis Resources (ASX:RRL) fell 7.5% to $3.70
Resolute Mining (ASX:RSG) slipped 5.2% to 64.5 cents
Perseus Resources (ASX:PRU) closed down 5% to 57.5 cents

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Motley Fool writer/analyst Mike King owns shares in TPG Telecom and Sirius Resources.

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