The S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has posted a gain of 0.55% today with the banks and major miners leading the way.
The local gains follow a positive lead from Wall Street overnight where the Dow Jones closed up 0.91%, while the S&P 500 rose 0.82%, after earnings results from Citigroup Inc (NYSE: C) beat expectations.
All sectors were higher on the local bourse; utilities and consumer staples led the gainers with rises of 0.91% and 0.9% respectively. Healthcare lagged with a gain of just 0.04%.
Here are the top five best performing stocks in the index today:
- Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG) rallied 6.2% to $12.08
- PanAust Limited (ASX: PNA) jumped 6% to $1.67
- Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN) climbed 4.5% to 46.5 cents
- Breville Group Ltd (ASX: BRG) rose 3.8% to $8.95
- Independence Group NL (ASX: IGO) gained 3.8% to $4.13
These stocks were the losers on the day:
- M2 Group Ltd (ASX: MTU) dropped 4.2% to $5.31
- Echo Entertainment Group Ltd (ASX: EGP) lost 4% to $2.65
- Ten Network Holdings Limited (ASX: TEN) fell 3.8% to 25 cents
- Beadell Resources Ltd (ASX: BDR) slipped 3.7% to 65 cents
- Regis Resources Limited (ASX: RRL) declined 3.5% to $2.45