Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Monday, as gains in the Gold, Financials and Consumer Staples sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.10%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Graincorp Ltd (ASX:GNC), which rose 6.75% or 0.62 points to trade at 9.81 at the close. Meanwhile, Perseus Mining Ltd (ASX:PRU) added 4.76% or 0.09 points to end at 1.87 and Westgold Resources Ltd (ASX:WGX) was up 4.51% or 0.08 points to 1.86 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX:A2M), which fell 5.36% or 0.27 points to trade at 4.77 at the close. Nuix Ltd (ASX:NXL) declined 5.02% or 0.08 points to end at 1.42 and Polynovo Ltd (ASX:PNV) was down 4.98% or 0.06 points to 1.05.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 845 to 574 and 433 ended unchanged.
Shares in Graincorp Ltd (ASX:GNC) rose to 3-years highs; rising 6.75% or 0.62 to 9.81. Shares in A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX:A2M) fell to 3-years lows; down 5.36% or 0.27 to 4.77.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 3.45% to 12.54.
Gold Futures for June delivery was down 0.07% or 1.30 to $1,944.30 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in May fell 2.49% or 2.45 to hit $95.81 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract fell 2.34% or 2.40 to trade at $100.38 a barrel.
AUD/USD was unchanged 0.25% to 0.74, while AUD/JPY rose 0.43% to 93.07.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.05% at 99.81.