Best and worst stocks on the ASX today

ASX closes down 0.2% today, 2.5% down for the week

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 December 6, 2013 3:37 pm AEDT

So much for the 'Santa rally'.

The S&P / ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has finished the week down, losing 0.2% to close at 5,186. That takes this week's performance to -2.5%, as investors likely fear that the US Federal Reserve will begin tapering its quantitative easing program earlier than expected. Overnight, US stockmarkets fell with both the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 losing 0.4%.

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

Western Areas (ASX: WSA) climbed 9.3% to $2.18
Fairfax Media (ASX: FXJ) gained 7.1% to 68 cents
Buru Energy (ASX: BRU) added 6.1% to $1.40
St Barbara (ASX: SBM) rose 5.8% to 27.5 cents
PanAust (ASX: PNA) closed up 5.4% at $1.67

These stocks were the losers on the day.

Transfield Services (ASX: TSE) dropped 7.8% to $1.00
Oceana Gold Corp (ASX: OGC) lost 4.7% to $1.615
Qantas Airways (ASX: QAN) fell 3.7% to $1.03
Arrium (ASX: ARI) ex-OneSteel slipped 3.7% to $1.585
Flight Centre Travel (ASX: FLT) closed down 3% at $46.00

Automatic Renewal

By taking up this offer, you will also be enrolled in our auto-renewal program, which is our way of making your ongoing subscription easier by ensuring uninterrupted service. Don't worry, though – you're not locked in, and can cancel your auto-renewal at any time before each 'anniversary' date without question or penalty.