Best and worst stocks on the ASX today

ASX soars 1.1% to a new five-year high

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 19, 2013 4:36 pm AEST

The S&P / ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has soared 1.1% higher to close at a new five-year high of 5,295.5, after the US Federal Reserve decided to continue with its stimulus program, surprising the market, which had expected some tapering to start this month.

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

Perseus Mining (ASX: PRU) soared 22.5% to 68 cents
St Barbara (ASX: SBM) climbed 20% to 65.5 cents
Medusa Mining (ASX: MML) rocketed up 18.5% to $2.43
Beadell Resources (ASX: BDR) rose 17.6% to 87 cents
Alacer Gold Corp (ASX: AQG) closed up 16.6% at $3.59

These stocks were the losers on the day.

BlueScope Steel (ASX: BSL) dropped 2.9% to $5.00
Goodman Fielder (ASX: GFF) closed down 2.7% to 72.5 cents
Lynas Corporation (ASX: LYC) dropped 2.4% to 40.5 cents
Amcor (ASX: AMC) fell 1.9% to $10.60
Atlas Iron (ASX: AGO) lost 1.7% to 85 cents

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

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