Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Gold, Metals & Mining and Resources sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 2.13%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Ozforex Grp (AX:OFX), which rose 30.00% or 0.780 points to trade at 3.380 at the close. Meanwhile, Mineral Resources Ltd (AX:MIN) added 12.62% or 0.520 points to end at 4.640 and Broadspectrum Ltd (AX:BRS) was up 9.39% or 0.085 points to 0.990 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Pact Group Holdings Ltd (AX:PGH), which fell 7.54% or 0.390 points to trade at 4.780 at the close. James Hardie Industries PLC (AX:JHX) declined 7.51% or 1.340 points to end at 16.510 and Mesoblast Ltd (AX:MSB) was down 6.15% or 0.120 points to 1.830.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Australia Stock Exchange by 603 to 380 and 121 ended unchanged.
Shares in Ozforex Grp (AX:OFX) rose to 52-week highs; rising 30.00% or 0.780 to 3.380. Shares in Mesoblast Ltd (AX:MSB) fell to 5-year lows; losing 6.15% or 0.120 to 1.830.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 4.06% to 18.467.
Gold for December delivery was up 0.76% or 8.10 to $1076.80 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 0.75% or 0.32 to hit $42.27 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract rose 0.66% or 0.29 to trade at $44.51 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.72% to 0.7161, while AUD/JPY rose 0.41% to 88.27.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.33% at 99.33.