Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Gold, Healthcare and Materials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.08%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Eclipx Group Ltd (ASX:ECX), which rose 29.48% or 0.255 points to trade at 1.120 at the close. Meanwhile, Lynas Corporation Ltd (ASX:LYC) added 11.31% or 0.310 points to end at 3.050 and Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX:EVN) was up 5.45% or 0.200 points to 3.870 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Link Administration Holdings Ltd (ASX:LNK), which fell 23.07% or 1.790 points to trade at 5.970 at the close. Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) declined 6.64% or 1.850 points to end at 26.030 and St Barbara Ltd (ASX:SBM) was down 5.88% or 0.160 points to 2.560.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 617 to 562 and 390 ended unchanged.
Shares in Link Administration Holdings Ltd (ASX:LNK) fell to all time lows; losing 23.07% or 1.790 to 5.970. Shares in Lynas Corporation Ltd (ASX:LYC) rose to 5-year highs; up 11.31% or 0.310 to 3.050. Shares in St Barbara Ltd (ASX:SBM) fell to 52-week lows; down 5.88% or 0.160 to 2.560.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 0.52% to 14.914 a new 3-months high.
Gold Futures for June delivery was up 0.43% or 5.50 to $1292.60 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in July fell 1.27% or 0.72 to hit $55.87 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract fell 1.36% or 0.89 to trade at $64.44 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.03% to 0.6913, while AUD/JPY fell 0.57% to 75.31.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.04% at 98.018.