As the market close draws closer it has been another great day for the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO). Although it gave back some of its early gains, the index has climbed close to 1% to 5,240 points thanks partly to the rise in oil and iron ore prices.
This means the index has now climbed by around 6% in the last five trading days and is at its highest point since the start of January.
Four stocks which have outperformed the market today include:
Burson Group Ltd's (ASX: BAP) share price surged again today by over 4% to $5.01. This brings its weekly gain to almost 7%. The market has clearly been impressed by what it was told at the recent investor day. Although the shares are not necessarily cheap now at 26x trailing earnings, the company's excellent management team looks like it is going to be able to unlock the value from its recent acquisitions. This should be a big boost to earnings growth.
Burson Group's share price has been on a tear this year with a gain of over 19%.
BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) shareholders will be delighted to see its share price climb by around 3% today to a five-month high of $20.90. Today's gains are related to the increase in prices of WTI crude oil and iron ore which now fetch US$44 a barrel and US$65 a tonne, respectively. Iron ore has climbed remarkably in recent times, having been as low as US$38 a tonne around four months ago.
BHP Billiton's share price is up almost 19% in 2016.
Challenger Ltd (ASX: CGF) shares have jumped over 5% to $9.03 after the company revealed annuity sales of $575 million in the third quarter of the current fiscal year. This fantastic quarter-over-quarter increase of 29% clearly impressed the market and led to investors piling in today. The company appears to be benefitting from Australia's ageing population. With Australia's median life expectancy at record-high levels, it could be positioned perfectly for strong growth in the future.
This brings its shares into positive territory at long last this year, posting gains of almost 4% in 2016.
Worleyparsons Limited (ASX: WOR) is one of the stand-out performers today with a gain of almost 10%, taking the share price up to a 5-month high of $7.07. Just like BHP Billiton, the dramatic rise of the iron ore price has contributed to the rally in its shares today. Time will tell whether the current iron ore price can be sustained, but considering the appetite for its shares today it appears the market thinks it can be.
Worleyparsons has now put on a whopping gain of around 53% so far this year.
It certainly was a great day on the market for shareholders of these four shares. If you missed out, don't worry there are plenty more investments waiting for you. In fact, I believe these three new breed blue chip shares could be worth a closer look at right now.
