Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the IT, Consumer Staples and Metals & Mining sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.92%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Sigma Pharmaceuticals Ltd (AX:SIG), which rose 7.19% or 0.060 points to trade at 0.895 at the close. Meanwhile, Asaleo Care (AX:AHY) added 5.71% or 0.080 points to end at 1.480 and Henderson Group PLC (AX:HGGDA) was up 5.52% or 2.360 points to 45.100 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were St Barbara Ltd (AX:SBM), which fell 4.27% or 0.125 points to trade at 2.805 at the close. AGL Energy Ltd (AX:AGL) declined 3.82% or 1.030 points to end at 25.940 and TPG Telecom Ltd (AX:TPM) was down 2.78% or 0.160 points to 5.600.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Australia Stock Exchange by 637 to 454 and 345 ended unchanged.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 3.67% to 11.473 a new 1-month low.
Gold Futures for June delivery was down 0.53% or 6.68 to $1260.32 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in July fell 0.79% or 0.38 to hit $47.98 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract fell 0.69% or 0.35 to trade at $50.28 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.20% to 0.7390, while AUD/JPY rose 0.43% to 82.47.
The US Dollar Index Futures was unchanged 0.00% at 97.16.