Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples and A-REITs sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.00% to hit a new 1-month high.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Healius Ltd (ASX:HLS), which rose 4.00% or 0.190 points to trade at 4.940 at the close. Meanwhile, Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX:WES) added 3.17% or 1.760 points to end at 57.310 and Auckland International Airport Ltd (ASX:AIA) was up 2.93% or 0.22 points to 7.72 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX:LYC), which fell 8.06% or 0.600 points to trade at 6.840 at the close. Aurizon Holdings Ltd (ASX:AZJ) declined 6.17% or 0.240 points to end at 3.650 and Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX:MIN) was down 4.02% or 1.65 points to 39.38.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 693 to 664 and 438 ended unchanged.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 3.20% to 11.872 a new 1-month low.
Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.59% or 10.55 to $1792.45 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in December fell 0.10% or 0.08 to hit $82.42 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract fell 0.17% or 0.14 to trade at $84.47 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.42% to 0.7497, while AUD/JPY rose 0.39% to 85.43.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.15% at 93.618.