The S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has finished the session near its intraday low, closing the day down 1.54%.
The heavy selling on the local bourse followed a negative lead from Wall Street overnight where the Dow Jones shed 1.4%, while the S&P 500 dropped 1.2% after weak Chinese data and further escalation of tensions in the Ukraine heightened investors' fears.
On the ASX, all sectors ended Friday down sharply with utilities the only sector to hold its falls to under 1%.
Here are the top five best performing stocks in the index today.
- Alacer Gold Corp – CDI (ASX: AQG) gained 3.8% to $3.52
- Whitehaven Coal Limited (ASX: WHC) rose 3.3% to $1.72
- Retail Food Group Limited (ASX: RFG) climbed 1.8% to $4.48
- Mermaid Marine Australia Limited (ASX: MRM) added 1.8% to $2.27
- Horizon Oil Ltd (ASX: HZN) closed up 1.6% to 32.5 cents
These stocks were the losers on the day.