The S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has posted a gain of 1% at the close of Thursday's trading session which means the index is now up for the week.
The gains on the local bourse follow a strong session for US markets overnight which saw both the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 close stronger following company earnings reports which were well received by investors.
On the Aussie market today investors pushed mining stocks higher after the iron ore price steadied and with the release of HSBC's Flash China PMI (purchasing managers' index) data which showed an improvement on the previous month.
All sectors gained for the day with the materials and health care sectors leading the charge, both were up over 1.7%. The question for investors looking towards Friday trading is whether the iron ore price holds up overnight, and how positively Wall Street reacts to the Chinese data.
Here are the top five best performing stocks in the index today:
- Lynas Corporation Limited (ASX: LYC) rallied 9.1% to 12 cents
- Alumina Limited (ASX: AWC) jumped 7.1% to $1.42
- Qube Holdings Ltd (ASX: QUB) climbed 6.4% to $2.33
- James Hardie Industries plc (ASX: JHX) added 5.7% to $14.47
- Arrium Ltd (ASX: ARI) rose 5.3% to 98.5 cents
These stocks were the losers on the day:
