The S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has closed the day with a gain of 0.91%, ending the trading session near its intra-day high.
The gains follows a strong performance on Wall Street overnight which saw the Dow Jones rally 0.68% and the S&P 500 soar 0.97% to leave both indices at record closing highs. A number of theories have been touted as to what drove US stocks higher with a strong bout of short covering one explanation.
On the local bourse, solid gains from the major miners and the banks helped to drive the market higher however volumes were light as many investors appeared to wait on the side-lines until details from tonight's Federal Budget are available.
Strong sector performances were recorded by both the materials and health care sectors which gained 1.91% and 2.36% respectively.
Here are the top five best performing stocks in the index today:
- PanAust Limited (ASX: PNA) soared 34.2% to $2.12
- OZ Minerals Limited (ASX: OZL) rallied 10% to $4.08
- Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) jumped 7.6% to $1.20
- Sandfire Resources NL (ASX: SFR) climbed 7.5% to $6.02
- Aurora Oil & Gas Limited (ASX: AUT) added 5.8% to $4.18
These stocks were the losers on the day: