Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Utilities, Consumer Staples and Consumer Discretionary sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.69%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were G.U.D. Holdings Ltd (ASX:GUD), which rose 7.66% or 0.610 points to trade at 8.570 at the close. Meanwhile, Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd (ASX:LNG) added 5.25% or 0.160 points to end at 3.210 and AGL Energy Ltd (ASX:AGL) was up 3.94% or 0.580 points to 15.310 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Lynas Corporation Ltd (ASX:LYC), which fell 6.25% or 0.003 points to trade at 0.045 at the close. Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) declined 5.66% or 0.120 points to end at 2.000 and Beadell Resources Ltd (ASX:BDR) was down 5.36% or 0.015 points to 0.265.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Australia Stock Exchange by 329 to 239 and 42 ended unchanged.
Shares in G.U.D. Holdings Ltd (ASX:GUD) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 7.66% or 0.610 to 8.570.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 2.87% to 13.730.
Gold for April delivery was down 0.20% or 2.40 to $1202.40 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in May fell 1.99% or 1.02 to hit $50.41 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract fell 1.61% or 0.95 to trade at $58.15 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.38% to 0.7800, while AUD/JPY fell 0.35% to 92.97.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.09% at 97.64.