While at the close last night U.S. markets looked tame with the Dow Jones flat and the S&P 500 off just 0.2%, earlier in the session the major indices had fallen sharply before recovering – at one stage the S&P 500 was down around 0.8%. The U.S. markets have now fallen in three out of the past four trading sessions.
The weak lead from Wall Street did little to dissuade Australian investors from wading back into the market today, with the S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) finishing the day up 1.2%. All sectors gained with the consumer staples sector the standout rising 2.5%.
Here are the top five best performing stocks in the index today.
- Independence Group NL (ASX: IGO) closed up 8% to $3.63
- Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd (ASX: VAH) rose 7.9% to 34 cents
- Echo Entertainment Group Ltd (ASX: EGP) added 6.4% to $2.32
- Arrium Ltd (ASX: ARI) gained 6% to $1.60
- Lynas Corporation Limited (ASX: LYC) climbed 5.7% to 28 cents
These stocks were the losers on the day.
