It was a shaky but overall positive day and end to the trading week for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) this Friday. After spending almost the entire afternoon in negative territory, investors decided to close out the week with a bang and pulled the index into a positive finish just before the closing bell.
After close of trading, the ASX 200 had recorded a decent gain of 0.19%, leaving the index at 7,325.4 points at the end of the week.
The indecisive performance comes after a similarly volatile session on Wall Street overnight.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average Index (DJX: .DJI) spent time in both red and green territory, but closed out the session 0.19% lower. The Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: .IXIC) reflected the same sentiments, ending up with a 0.098% retreat by closing time.
But let's now see what this Friday threw up amongst the various ASX sectors on the local markets today.
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Winners and losers
Given today's erratic performance by the markets, it's no shock to see a fairly even split between winners and losers for this Friday's session.
Getting the biggest losers out of the way first, we're starting with ASX gold shares. The All Ordinaries Gold Index (ASX: XGD) led the market's losses with a hefty 1.22% fall.
Not too far behind with disappointing investors were ASX healthcare shares. The S&P/ASX 200 Health Care Index (ASX: XHJ) also had a rough time, dropping 1.2%.
Utilities shares and real estate investment trusts (REITs) were two more sore spots for investors, with the S&P/ASX 200 Utilities Index (ASX: XUJ) and the S&P/ASX 200 A-REIT Index (ASX: XPJ) recording losses of 0.71% and 0.72% respectively.
Those were this Friday's most prominent losers.
Turning to the winners, and those were led by ASX tech stocks. We had some big results from some of the US tech giants overnight, and this seems to give the local tech space a boost. The S&P/ASX 200 Information Technology Index (ASX: XIJ) soared a happy 1.25% today.
Energy shares were another winning sector, with the S&P/ASX 200 Energy Index (ASX: XEJ) rising by 1.09%.
Hot on energy's heels were ASX consumer discretionary shares. The S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Discretionary Index (ASX: XDJ) had a strong showing with its lift of 0.78%.
Miners were a bright spot for investors as well. The S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ) ended up finishing 0.52% higher.
Finally, consumer staples weren't in vogue as much as their discretionary counterparts, but the S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Staples Index (ASX: XSJ) still managed to eke out a 0.34% jump.
Top 10 ASX 200 shares countdown
We had some solid gains across the board with our best-performing shares of the day. Coming in at number one was energy share Karoon Energy Ltd (ASX: KAR). Karoon shares shot up 4.19% to $2.24 each.
There wasn't any news out of the company itself, but almost all energy sources had a top session this Friday, thanks to a jump in oil prices.
Here are the other winning shares from today's session:
| ASX-listed company | Share price | Price change |
| Karoon Energy Ltd (ASX: KAR) | $2.24 | 4.19% |
| Domino's Pizza Enterprises Ltd (ASX: DMP) | $51.09 | 3.97% |
| NRW Holdings Ltd (ASX: NWH) | $2.73 | 3.8% |
| New Hope Corporation Limited (ASX: NHC) | $5.54 | 3.17% |
| Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) | $1.655 | 3.12% |
| Tabcorp Holdings Ltd (ASX: TAH) | $1.075 | 2.87% |
| Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE) | $11.78 | 2.7% |
| GUD Holdings Ltd (ASX: GUD) | $9.98 | 2.67% |
| Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC) | $7.07 | 2.61% |
| Breville Group Ltd (ASX: BRG) | $23.45 | 2.22% |
Our top 10 shares countdown is a recurring end-of-day summary to let you know which companies were making big moves on the day. Check in at Fool.com.au after the weekday market closes to see which stocks make the countdown.
