The S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has finished Thursday's trading session down 1.09%, following a sharp sell-off on US markets. Overnight the Dow Jones sunk 0.7%, while the S&P 500 fell 0.61%.
Markets have reacted negatively to comments by the US Federal Reserve chairwomen Janet Yellen that the tapering of bond purchases will continue and interest rates could rise sooner than markets had been anticipating.
In local company news, Myer Holdings Ltd (ASX: MYR) released its interim results which followed the earnings release yesterday of rival department store David Jones Limited (ASX: DJS).
The utilities sector managed to eke out a small 0.09% gain for the day, all other sectors finished well into the red.
Here are the top five best performing stocks in the index today.
- Aristocrat Leisure Limited (ASX: ALL) closed up 4% to $5.40
- Trade Me Group Ltd (ASX: TME) added 3% to $3.72
- Cabcharge Australia Limited (ASX: CAB ) climbed 2.6% to $4.31
- Cardno Limited (ASX: CDD) rose 2.4% to $6.82
- Lynas Corporation Limited (ASX: LYC) gained 2.3% to 22.5 cents
These stocks were the losers on the day.
