Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Gold, Metals & Mining and Materials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.34% to hit a new 6-months high.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Northern Star Resources Ltd (AX:NST), which rose 7.43% or 0.350 points to trade at 5.060 at the close. Meanwhile, St Barbara Ltd (AX:SBM) added 7.19% or 0.205 points to end at 3.055 and Saracen Mineral Holdings Ltd (AX:SAR) was up 5.68% or 0.090 points to 1.675 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Beach Energy Ltd (AX:BPT), which fell 3.72% or 0.023 points to trade at 0.583 at the close. Syrah Res F (AX:SYR) declined 3.41% or 0.160 points to end at 4.530 and Origin Energy Ltd (AX:ORG) was down 2.75% or 0.160 points to 5.650.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Australia Stock Exchange by 682 to 414 and 318 ended unchanged.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 3.96% to 14.172 a new 3-months low.
Gold for December delivery was up 0.90% or 12.00 to $1346.50 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in September rose 0.31% or 0.13 to hit $42.05 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract rose 0.27% or 0.12 to trade at $44.03 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.45% to 0.7525, while AUD/JPY fell 0.06% to 78.90.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.11% at 96.64.