4 stocks soaring on the ASX today

S&P/ASX 200 posts longest winning streak ever recorded of twelve days of gains

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 February 6, 2015 4:42 pm AEDT

The S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has flopped over the line for its twelfth consecutive day of gains. The market gained 0.2% to close at 5,820.2, having surged over 5,845 in early trading.

Here are four stocks that posted strong gains.

Senex Energy Ltd (ASX: SXY) rose 6.9% to 38.5 cents, as oil prices reversed some of yesterday's falls. Brent Crude Oil rose 4.3% to US$56.49 per barrel amid signs that supply may tail off. Senex shares have now gained 40% since the beginning of the week but are still down 41% to in the past six months – when oil prices started falling.

Bradken Limited (ASX: BKN) gained 7.4% to close at $3.06. That was despite news that mining services company Calibre Group Ltd (ASX: CGH) would take a one-off hit to profit before tax by between $185 and $190 million, thanks to goodwill writedowns, onerous lease impacts and restructuring costs. Bradken manufactures and supplies mining products to the large miners, and recently ended talks with a consortium wanting to take over the company.

Unilife Corporation (ASX: UNS) also gained 7.4%, closing at 87.5 cents. The developer of injectable drug delivery systems hasn't posted a profit since 2009, but clearly has high hopes for the year ahead. Unilife recently raised $39 million in a placement to further develop its operations and capabilities – showing that the company is struggling to generate free cash flow to do the same. A speculative stock that Foolish investors may want to steer clear of for now.

Japara Healthcare Ltd (ASX: JHC) added 5% to close at $2.12. The aged care operator has seen its shares fall 21.5% in the past year or so, but also seen it recover recently, following an announcement in early December 2014 that it had been allocated 465 new residential aged care places, funded by the Australian government.

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