The S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has finished Monday's session in positive territory with a small gain of 0.08%, ending a topsy-turvy day which saw the local bourse spend much of the session in negative territory.
The flat day follows a soft finish to an otherwise strong week on Wall Street where last Friday the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 finished down 0.28% and 0.13% respectively.
The Aussie market was influenced today by economic data and company news including the release of Chinese manufacturing data, which appeared to disappoint, and a record profit from Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) which failed to inspire buying amongst investors.
Sectors were mixed with the consumer discretionary, financials, health care, industrials, property and utilities sectors all giving up ground. The energy and materials sectors were the best performers both gaining over 1%; information technology, consumer staples and telecoms also finished higher.
Here are the top five best performing stocks in the index today:
- Aquila Resources Limited (ASX: AQA) soared 36.3% to $3.34
- Sirius Resources N.L. (ASX: SIR) jumped 9% to $2.78
- Resolute Mining Limited (ASX: RSG) rallied 8.6% to 63 cents
- Beadell Resources Ltd (ASX: BDR) added 7.8% to 69 cents
- Evolution FPO (ASX: EVN) gained 5.6% to 85.5 cents
These stocks were the losers on the day:
