Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Gold, Energy and Telecoms Services sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.36%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Pilbara Minerals Ltd (AX:PLS), which rose 16.00% or 0.100 points to trade at 0.725 at the close. Meanwhile, Healius Ltd (AX:HLS) added 12.82% or 0.300 points to end at 2.640 and Speedcast International Ltd (AX:SDA) was up 7.27% or 0.200 points to 2.950 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Independence Group NL (AX:IGO), which fell 7.36% or 0.290 points to trade at 3.650 at the close. Super Retail Group Ltd (AX:SUL) declined 5.42% or 0.370 points to end at 6.460 and JB Hi-Fi Ltd (AX:JBH) was down 4.26% or 0.920 points to 20.680.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 580 to 430 and 319 ended unchanged.
Shares in Super Retail Group Ltd (AX:SUL) fell to 5-year lows; down 5.42% or 0.370 to 6.460. Shares in JB Hi-Fi Ltd (AX:JBH) fell to 52-week lows; down 4.26% or 0.920 to 20.680.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 4.34% to 18.572.
Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.61% or 7.85 to $1291.95 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in February fell 1.93% or 0.90 to hit $45.64 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract fell 1.11% or 0.61 to trade at $54.30 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.59% to 0.6943, while AUD/JPY fell 2.32% to 74.27.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.29% at 96.148.