The S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX: XJO) has thus far delivered one of its strongest single-day performances of 2014 with the benchmark index rising 82 points or 1.6%. The jump comes after a strong session on Wall Street overnight giving investors around the world a chance to catch their breath following weeks of heavy volatility.
However, some individual companies have managed to blitz the market's returns.
Nearmap Ltd (ASX: NEA) is a provider of aerial photomapping technology to various industries in Australia. After the company announced its maiden profit back in August and provided an optimistic outlook for the year ahead, the stock skyrocketed which led to some profit-taking activity. However, the shares have managed to regain 6.8% of their value today to be trading at 55 cents.
Gold miner Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) has also recovered nicely with the stock jumping 8.5 cents or 7.3% so far for the session. Gold climbed to its highest point in nearly two weeks to US$1,224.05 an ounce this morning after expectations of a US interest rate hike eased overnight. Uncertainty in the global economy is also helping to drive the price of the shiny metal higher.
Bank of Queensland Limited (ASX: BOQ) shares have jumped 3.5% to be trading at $12.19 after the bank narrowly beat consensus forecasts to report a 20% rise in cash net profit for the year to $301.2 million. Although aggressive competition from the big four banks restricted lending to households to growth of just 1%, statutory profit grew by an impressive 40%, while the cost to income ratio also dropped by 40 basis points to 43.9%.