Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Telecoms Services, Healthcare and Consumer Staples sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.01% to hit a new 5-year high.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Breville Group Ltd (AX:BRG), which rose 12.29% or 1.430 points to trade at 13.070 at the close. Meanwhile, Bellamys Australia Ltd (AX:BAL) added 7.25% or 0.660 points to end at 9.760 and Qbe Insurance Group Ltd (AX:QBE) was up 6.96% or 0.710 points to 10.910 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Invocare Ltd (AX:IVC), which fell 8.19% or 1.180 points to trade at 13.220 at the close. Iluka Resources Ltd (AX:ILU) declined 8.05% or 0.850 points to end at 9.710 and Mineral Resources Ltd (AX:MIN) was down 7.15% or 1.070 points to 13.900.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 643 to 573 and 412 ended unchanged.
Shares in Mineral Resources Ltd (AX:MIN) fell to 52-week lows; losing 7.15% or 1.070 to 13.900.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 2.20% to 11.506.
Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.06% or 0.70 to $1184.30 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in September rose 0.28% or 0.18 to hit $65.19 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract rose 0.58% or 0.41 to trade at $71.17 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.47% to 0.7273, while AUD/JPY rose 0.57% to 80.62.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.25% at 96.35.