Best and worst stocks on the ASX today

ASX climbs for sixth straight session, adding 0.4%

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 October 22, 2013 3:38 pm AEDT

The S&P / ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has record its sixth straight day of gains, rising 0.4% to 5,373.1. The Information technology sector gained 2.1%, followed by metals & mining on 1.5% and materials with a gain of 1.3%.

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

SMS Management & Technology (ASX: SMX) climbed 6.4% to $4.64
Atlas Iron (ASX: AGO) rose 6.1% to $1.05
Bradken (ASX: BKN) gained 5.7% to $6.45
Alacer Gold Corp (ASX: AQG) added 4.6% to $2.99
McMillan Shakespeare (ASX: MMS) closed up 4.5% at $12.81

These stocks were the losers on the day.

Sundance Resources (ASX: SDL) crashed down 15.4% to 11 cents
Qantas Airways (ASX: QAN) dropped 3.3% to $1.305
Dexus Property Group (ASX: DXS) lost 3.2% to $1.05
Forge Group (ASX: FGE) fell 3.2% to $4.88
Downer EDI (ASX: DOW) closed down 2.9% at $5.00

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Motley Fool writer/analyst Mike King owns shares in McMillan Shakespeare.

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