The S&P / ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has closed down 0.1% at 5,425.5, after taking a heavy fall at the start of trading, but mostly recovered throughout the day. Sectors, as could be expected were mixed, with gold down 2.1%, information technology up 1.1%, and consumer staples rising 1%.
Here are the top five best performing stocks in the index today.
- OceanaGold Corporation (ASX: OGC) soared 16.4% to $1.74
- Mesoblast (ASX: MSB) climbed 9.6% to $6.60
- Paladin Energy (ASX: PDN) rose 9.1% to 42 cents
- Drillsearch Energy (ASX: DLS) added 8.8% to $1.295
- Transpacific Industries Group (ASX: TPI) gained 5% to $1.145
These stocks were the losers on the day.
- GUD Holdings (ASX: GUD) fell 6.9% to $5.93
- Perseus Mining (ASX: PRU) dropped 6.5% to 43.5 cents
- Sundance Resources (ASX: SDL) lost 4.6% to 10.5 cents
- Alacer Gold Corp (ASX: AQG) slipped 4.1% to $3.02
- Skilled Group (ASX: SKE) closed down 3.6% at $3.53