Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Monday, as gains in the Gold, Energy 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 Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX:EVN), which rose 6.81% or 0.250 points to trade at 3.920 at the close. Meanwhile, Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX:NCM) added 3.94% or 1.190 points to end at 31.370 and St Barbara Ltd (ASX:SBM) was up 2.90% or 0.080 points to 2.840 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Bega Cheese Ltd (ASX:BGA), which fell 9.26% or 0.400 points to trade at 3.920 at the close. Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS) declined 4.84% or 0.015 points to end at 0.295 and Hub24 Ltd (ASX:HUB) was down 4.06% or 0.460 points to 10.860.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 640 to 514 and 334 ended unchanged.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 3.31% to 13.483 a new 1-month high.
Gold Futures for February delivery was up 1.57% or 24.45 to $1576.85 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 1.98% or 1.25 to hit $64.30 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract rose 2.29% or 1.57 to trade at $70.17 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.22% to 0.6936, while AUD/JPY fell 0.23% to 74.91.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.05% at 96.570.