Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Energy, Utilities and Resources sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.16% to hit a new 3-year high.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Bradken Ltd (ASX:BKN), which rose 8.07% or 0.230 points to trade at 3.080 at the close. Meanwhile, Sirius Resources NL (ASX:SIR) added 7.27% or 0.210 points to end at 3.100 and Senex Energy Ltd (ASX:SXY) was up 6.94% or 0.025 points to 0.385 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Arrium Ltd (ASX:ARI), which fell 6.67% or 0.015 points to trade at 0.210 at the close. BC Iron Ltd (ASX:BCI) declined 6.50% or 0.040 points to end at 0.575 and Rea Group Ltd (ASX:REA) was down 5.38% or 2.76 points to 48.52.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 315 to 271 and 38 ended unchanged.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 6.77% to 16.062.
Gold for April delivery was up 0.48% or 6.10 to $1268.80 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude Oil for delivery in March rose 2.58% or 1.30 to hit $51.78 a barrel, while the March Brent Oil contract rose 2.15% or 1.22 to trade at $57.80 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.54% to 0.7840, while AUD/JPY rose 0.35% to 91.96.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.05% at 93.71.