Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Healthcare, Energy and Utilities sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 added 1.68%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were M Pharma Fp (AX:MYX), which rose 35.80% or 0.502 points to trade at 1.903 at the close. Meanwhile, Seven Group Holdings Ltd (AX:SVW) added 10.05% or 0.550 points to end at 6.020 and Western Areas Ltd (AX:WSA) was up 6.75% or 0.135 points to 2.135 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Nsreit Stapled (AX:NSR), which fell 4.05% or 0.070 points to trade at 1.660 at the close. St Barbara Ltd (AX:SBM) declined 3.75% or 0.115 points to end at 2.955 and BT Investment Management Ltd (AX:BTT) was down 2.71% or 0.220 points to 7.900.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Australia Stock Exchange by 773 to 384 and 341 ended unchanged.
Shares in M Pharma Fp (AX:MYX) rose to all time highs; gaining 35.80% or 0.502 to 1.903.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 5.33% to 19.373.
Gold for August delivery was down 0.60% or 7.95 to $1318.95 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August fell 1.08% or 0.54 to hit $49.34 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract fell 1.09% or 0.56 to trade at $50.76 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.35% to 0.7425, while AUD/JPY fell 0.54% to 76.21.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.29% at 95.97.