Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Monday, as gains in the Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples and Financials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.75%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Zip Co Ltd (ASX:ZIP), which rose 14.96% or 0.10 points to trade at 0.73 at the close. Meanwhile, Polynovo Ltd (ASX:PNV) added 9.78% or 0.16 points to end at 1.74 and A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX:A2M) was up 5.79% or 0.25 points to 4.57 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Appen Ltd (ASX:APX), which fell 38.04% or 0.18 points to trade at 0.28 at the close. Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX:MIN) declined 9.48% or 5.51 points to end at 52.64 and Mesoblast Ltd (ASX:MSB) was down 6.67% or 0.02 points to 0.28.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 687 to 542 and 406 ended unchanged.
Shares in Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) fell to all time lows; losing 38.04% or 0.18 to 0.28. Shares in Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX:MIN) fell to 52-week lows; down 9.48% or 5.51 to 52.64.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 0.42% to 11.32.
Gold Futures for February delivery was down 0.22% or 4.55 to $2,024.75 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March fell 0.49% or 0.36 to hit $72.89 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract fell 0.48% or 0.38 to trade at $78.18 a barrel.
AUD/USD was unchanged 0.11% to 0.66, while AUD/JPY fell 0.25% to 97.53.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.07% at 103.00.