Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Utilities, Metals & Mining and Materials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.66%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Duet Group (AX:DUE), which rose 9.64% or 0.265 points to trade at 3.015 at the close. Meanwhile, Western Areas Ltd (AX:WSA) added 6.70% or 0.140 points to end at 2.230 and Aconex Ltd (AX:ACX) was up 6.20% or 0.250 points to 4.280 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd (AX:CCL), which fell 10.61% or 1.140 points to trade at 9.600 at the close. Vocus Fpo (AX:VOC) declined 3.23% or 0.110 points to end at 3.300 and Fairfax Media Ltd (AX:FXJ) was down 2.63% or 0.028 points to 1.018.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Australia Stock Exchange by 618 to 442 and 356 ended unchanged.
Shares in Duet Group (AX:DUE) rose to 5-year highs; up 9.64% or 0.265 to 3.015.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 1.94% to 13.934 a new 1-month high.
Gold Futures for June delivery was down 0.18% or 2.30 to $1281.50 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in June rose 0.14% or 0.07 to hit $50.78 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract rose 0.09% or 0.05 to trade at $53.04 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.07% to 0.7535, while AUD/JPY rose 0.13% to 82.39.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.02% at 99.73.