Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Energy, Resources and A-REITs sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.50% to hit a new 6-months high.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX:WHC), which rose 11.58% or 0.110 points to trade at 1.060 at the close. Meanwhile, Pro Medicus Ltd (ASX:PME) added 7.65% or 2.22 points to end at 31.23 and AP Eagers Ltd (ASX:APE) was up 6.07% or 0.68 points to 11.88 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Zip Co Ltd (ASX:Z1P), which fell 7.52% or 0.57 points to trade at 7.01 at the close. Idp Education Ltd (ASX:IEL) declined 6.05% or 1.22 points to end at 18.93 and Nearmap Ltd (ASX:NEA) was down 5.95% or 0.160 points to 2.530.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 661 to 583 and 380 ended unchanged.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 3.31% to 20.275.
Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.29% or 5.45 to $1901.85 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in November fell 0.19% or 0.08 to hit $40.96 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract fell 0.23% or 0.10 to trade at $43.22 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.64% to 0.7117, while AUD/JPY fell 0.47% to 74.95.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.11% at 93.470.