Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Healthcare, A-REITs and Consumer Staples sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.42%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Star Entertainment Group Ltd (AX:SGR), which rose 5.29% or 0.230 points to trade at 4.580 at the close. Meanwhile, Goodman Group (AX:GMG) added 4.18% or 0.440 points to end at 10.960 and Coles Group Ltd (AX:COL) was up 4.13% or 0.50 points to 12.60 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Ioof Holdings Ltd (AX:IFL), which fell 35.84% or 2.570 points to trade at 4.600 at the close. Adelaide Brighton Ltd (AX:ABC) declined 9.34% or 0.480 points to end at 4.660 and Perpetual Ltd (AX:PPT) was down 5.64% or 2.000 points to 33.490.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 580 to 486 and 355 ended unchanged.
Shares in Ioof Holdings Ltd (AX:IFL) fell to 5-year lows; down 35.84% or 2.570 to 4.600. Shares in Goodman Group (AX:GMG) rose to 5-year highs; rising 4.18% or 0.440 to 10.960. Shares in Adelaide Brighton Ltd (AX:ABC) fell to 52-week lows; losing 9.34% or 0.480 to 4.660.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 2.36% to 16.732.
Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.10% or 1.20 to $1244.80 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January fell 0.78% or 0.40 to hit $51.09 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract fell 0.83% or 0.50 to trade at $59.56 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.08% to 0.7228, while AUD/JPY rose 0.12% to 81.62.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.08% at 96.838.