Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Monday, as gains in the Utilities, Energy and Telecoms Services sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.48%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Western Areas Ltd (AX:WSA), which rose 5.70% or 0.130 points to trade at 2.410 at the close. Meanwhile, Steadfast Group Ltd (AX:SDF) added 4.82% or 0.120 points to end at 2.610 and Syrah Resources Ltd (AX:SYR) was up 4.17% or 0.060 points to 1.500 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Boral Ltd. (AX:BLD), which fell 8.30% or 0.410 points to trade at 4.530 at the close. Ioof Holdings Ltd (AX:IFL) declined 4.50% or 0.230 points to end at 4.880 and Domain Holdings Australia Ltd (AX:DHG) was down 2.93% or 0.070 points to 2.320.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 595 to 539 and 320 ended unchanged.
Shares in Boral Ltd. (AX:BLD) fell to 3-years lows; falling 8.30% or 0.410 to 4.530.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 2.31% to 13.483.
Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.37% or 4.95 to $1317.15 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March fell 0.22% or 0.12 to hit $55.14 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract fell 0.05% or 0.03 to trade at $62.72 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.21% to 0.7234, while AUD/JPY rose 0.13% to 79.39.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.14% at 95.433.