The S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has finished the day and the week up 0.69% and 0.16% respectively.
Friday's gains on the ASX followed a strong session on Wall Street overnight where the Dow Jones was up 0.67%, and the S&P 500 rose 0.6%, after U.S. investors reacted positively to a string of economic data releases.
In company news, the retail sector remained in focus today after wholesaler Metcash announced a profit downgrade. Metcash's update followed lacklustre interim earnings reports from Australia's two major department stores David Jones Limited (ASX: DJS) and Myer Holdings Ltd (ASX: MYR) earlier in the week.
With the exception of consumer discretionary, all sectors registered gains for the day.
Here are the top five best performing stocks in the index today.
- Energy World Corporation Ltd. (ASX: EWC) rallied 8.8% to 31 cents
- Silver Lake Resources Limited. (ASX: SLR) jumped 6.7% to 47.5 cents
- Independence Group NL (ASX: IGO) added 6% to $4.04
- ALS Ltd (ASX: ALQ) climbed 5% to $7.54
- G8 Education Ltd (ASX: GEM) gained 4.8% to $4.76
These stocks were the losers on the day.
