Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Tuesday, as gains in the Utilities, Materials and Metals & Mining sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 added 1.19% to hit a new 52-week high.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Aconex Ltd (AX:ACX), which rose 8.88% or 0.450 points to trade at 5.520 at the close. Meanwhile, Syrah Res F (AX:SYR) added 7.21% or 0.220 points to end at 3.270 and Whitehaven Coal Ltd (AX:WHC) was up 6.13% or 0.160 points to 2.770 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Orocobre Ltd (AX:ORE), which fell 3.97% or 0.180 points to trade at 4.350 at the close. Isentia Group Ltd (AX:ISD) declined 1.57% or 0.045 points to end at 2.825 and Aveo Group (AX:AOG) was down 1.49% or 0.050 points to 3.300.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Australia Stock Exchange by 674 to 346 and 287 ended unchanged.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 1.90% to 13.005.
Gold for February delivery was up 0.52% or 5.95 to $1157.65 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 0.63% or 0.34 to hit $54.06 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract rose 0.60% or 0.34 to trade at $57.16 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.63% to 0.7232, while AUD/JPY rose 0.46% to 84.86.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.29% at 102.67.