The S&P / ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has closed up 0.4% at 5,234.9, still shrugging off the effects of the US government shutdown, and its looming debt ceiling issue. The energy and industrials sectors were the only sectors that fell into the red, while the gold sector jumped more than 2%.
Here are the top five best performing stocks in the index today.
- Ten Network Holdings (ASX: TEN) climbed 5.4% to 29.5 cents
- Medusa Mining (ASX: MML) jumped 5.2% to $2.24
- Arrium (ASX: ARI) ex-OneSteel rose 4.3% to $1.215
- Northern Star (ASX: NST) gained 4.2% to 86.5 cents
- Regis Resources (ASX: RRL) added 3.9% to $4.05
These stocks were the losers on the day.
- Leighton Holdings (ASX: LEI) dropped 10.4% to $17.54
- Paladin Energy (ASX: PDN) plunged 5.7% to 50 cents
- Boart Longyear (ASX: BLY) fell 3.3% to 44 cents
- Monadelphous (ASX: MND) lost 3.1% to $18.42
- Bradken (ASX: BKN) slipped 3.1% to $5.68
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Motley Fool writer/analyst Mike King owns shares in Leighton Holdings.