Best and worst stocks on the ASX today

ASX drops 1.4% as US Fed threatens to cut back quantitative easing

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 November 13, 2013 3:21 pm AEDT

The S&P / ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has plummeted, losing 1.4% to close at 5,319.2, after the US Federal Reserve signalled it may soon taper back quantitative easing. Market is acting like a drug addict, and the drug of choice is being taken away. Looks like investors will have to get used to relying on companies growing earnings – much as we always have.

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

Sundance Resources (ASX: SDL) climbed 9.1% to 12 cents
CSR (ASX: CSR) soared 8.3% to $2.61
Boart Longyear (ASX: BLY) gained 3.9% to 40 cents
Fortescue Metals Group (ASX: FMG) added 2.9% to $5.77
Fletcher Building (ASX: FBU) rose 2% to $8.53

These stocks were the losers on the day.

Linc Energy (ASX: LNC) dropped 7.9% to $1.05
Panaust (ASX: PNA) lost 6% to $1.73
Lynas Corporation (ASX: LYC) fell 6% to 31.5 cents
Energy World Corporation (ASX: EWC) closed down 5.8% at 41 cents
Buru Energy (ASX: BRU) slipped 5.4% to $1.485

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