S&P/ASX 200 rises: 11 shares you should have been watching

S&P/ASX 200 closes up 0.4% for the day , but fairly flat 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 August 19, 2016 5:10 pm AEST

BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) saw its share price rise 2%, pulling the market up today, despite weak performances from a number of large cap companies.

Here's a quick recap:

S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) up 0.4% to 5,526.7 points
ALL ORDINARIES (Index: ^AXAO) (ASX: XAO) up 5,625.4 points
AUD/USD lower at US 76.41 cents
Iron Ore at US$60.71 a tonne
Gold up 0.3% to US$1,353.15 an ounce
Brent oil rose 1.7% to US$50.70 a barrel

Shares in Ardent Leisure Group (ASX: AAD) rose 10.9% to $2.55, while retailer BWX Ltd (ASX: BWX) continues to recover from its recent fall, rising 6.2% to $5.12.

Worleyparsons Limited (ASX: WOR) posted a 5.9% gain to $9.20 and salmon producer and seafood retailer Tassal Group Limited (ASX: TGR) rose 5.6% to $4.17.

Iress Ltd (ASX: IRE) continues to rise, gaining another 4.9% today to close at $12.28, while nickel miners Western Areas Ltd (ASX: WSA) and Independence Group NL (ASX: IGO) posted gains of 8.8% and 4.8% respectively.

Iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) continues to rise, adding another 3.8% to $4.93 today. Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MIN) also continues to benefit from a strong earnings result, adding another 3.6% to $11.00 today.

Last but not least were the losers on the day. Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC) gave back some of its gains, falling 10.4% to $1.90, while Medibank Private Ltd (ASX: MPL) disappointed investors and promptly fell 4.7% to $2.84.

Here are Friday's top stories:

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