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 Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.03%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Nufarm Ltd (AX:NUF), which rose 6.15% or 0.260 points to trade at 4.490 at the close. Meanwhile, Speedcast International Ltd (AX:SDA) added 5.31% or 0.190 points to end at 3.770 and Ardent Leisure Ltd (AX:ALG) was up 3.15% or 0.040 points to 1.310 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Eclipx Group Ltd (AX:ECX), which fell 12.05% or 0.100 points to trade at 0.730 at the close. Pact Group Holdings Ltd (AX:PGH) declined 7.58% or 0.210 points to end at 2.560 and Flight Centre Ltd (AX:FLT) was down 4.65% or 2.100 points to 43.050.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 598 to 513 and 380 ended unchanged.
Shares in Eclipx Group Ltd (AX:ECX) fell to all time lows; falling 12.05% or 0.100 to 0.730. Shares in Pact Group Holdings Ltd (AX:PGH) fell to all time lows; losing 7.58% or 0.210 to 2.560.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 4.48% to 11.582.
Gold Futures for April delivery was up 1.19% or 15.55 to $1317.25 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in May fell 0.10% or 0.06 to hit $60.17 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract rose 0.09% or 0.06 to trade at $68.56 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.41% to 0.7144, while AUD/JPY rose 0.27% to 78.96.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.21% at 95.403.