Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Energy, Consumer Staples and Resources sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.55%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Syrah Res F (AX:SYR), which rose 9.25% or 0.310 points to trade at 3.660 at the close. Meanwhile, Australian Pharma Industries Ltd (AX:API) added 4.75% or 0.090 points to end at 1.985 and Ansell Ltd (AX:ANN) was up 4.57% or 1.080 points to 24.720 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Mantra Group Ltd (AX:MTR), which fell 5.07% or 0.170 points to trade at 3.180 at the close. Bluescope Steel Ltd (AX:BSL) declined 4.62% or 0.360 points to end at 7.430 and St Barbara Ltd (AX:SBM) was down 4.48% or 0.130 points to 2.770.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Australia Stock Exchange by 567 to 493 and 307 ended unchanged.
Shares in Ansell Ltd (AX:ANN) rose to 52-week highs; up 4.57% or 1.080 to 24.720.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 5.22% to 13.774.
Gold for December delivery was down 0.07% or 0.95 to $1267.65 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in November fell 0.50% or 0.25 to hit $49.58 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract fell 0.46% or 0.24 to trade at $51.62 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.25% to 0.7602, while AUD/JPY fell 0.28% to 78.69.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.09% at 96.22.