Winners and losers
The worst place to have been invested in this Thursday was tech shares. The S&P/ASX 200 Information Technology Index (ASX: XIJ) was sold off heavily, cratering 2.3%.
Gold stocks suffered disproportionately too, with the All Ordinaries Gold Index (ASX: XGD) tanking 2.1%.
Communications shares seemed to be on the nose as well. The S&P/ASX 200 Communication Services Index (ASX: XTJ) ended up retreating 0.91% this session.
We could say something similar for real estate investment trusts (REITs), as you can see from the S&P/ASX 200 A-REIT Index (ASX: XPJ)'s 0.86% downgrade.
Mining stocks gave up some of yesterday's surge, too. The S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ) was walked back by 0.42% this Thursday.
Consumer discretionary shares were right behind that, with the S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Discretionary Index (ASX: XDJ) sliding 0.35%.
That's it for the losers, though. Turning to the winners, it was energy stocks that led the charge. The S&P/ASX 200 Energy Index (ASX: XEJ) surged by 1.54% this session.
Healthcare shares were popular as well, evident from the S&P/ASX 200 Healthcare Index (ASX: XHJ)'s 0.87% jump.
Utilities stocks stuck the landing, too. The S&P/ASX 200 Utilities Index (ASX: XUJ) saw 0.34% added to its total today.
Consumer staples shares also held their value, with the S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Staples Index (ASX: XSJ) enjoying a 0.1% improvement.
Industrial stocks were right behind that. The S&P/ASX 200 Industrials Index (ASX: XNJ) got a 0.09% bump by the time the markets closed.
Finally, financial shares scraped home with a rise, illustrated by the S&P/ASX 200 Financials Index (ASX: XFJ)'s 0.03% uptick.
Top 10 ASX 200 shares countdown
Today's best stock on the index came in as chemicals manufacturer, Orica Ltd (ASX: ORI). Orica shares soared 5.48% higher this session to close at $20.60 each.
This decisive move came without any news from the company today, though.
Here's how the other top stocks pulled up at the kerb: