Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Gold, Energy and Information Technology sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.56%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Resolute Mining Ltd (ASX:RSG), which rose 10.17% or 0.030 points to trade at 0.325 at the close. Meanwhile, Sundance Energy Australia Ltd (ASX:SEA) added 6.38% or 0.030 points to end at 0.500 and Western Areas Ltd (ASX:WSA) was up 6.33% or 0.250 points to 4.200 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Atlas Iron Ltd (ASX:AGO), which fell 3.64% or 0.010 points to trade at 0.265 at the close. Horizon Oil Ltd (ASX:HZN) declined 3.33% or 0.005 points to end at 0.145 and Echo Entertainment Group Ltd (ASX:EGP) was down 1.84% or 0.070 points to 3.740.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 379 to 171 and 47 ended unchanged.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 9.94% to 13.883.
Gold for February delivery was up 0.31% or 3.80 to $1212.30 a troy ounce.
Elsewhere in commodities trading, crude oil for delivery in February rose 0.94% or 0.46 to hit $49.25 a barrel, while the February brent oil contract rose 0.47% or 0.24 to trade at $51.29 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.22% to 0.8140, while AUD/JPY fell 0.04% to 97.13.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.15% at 92.41.