Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Financials, Energy and A-REITs sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.12% to hit a new 1-month high.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS), which rose 22.41% or 0.065 points to trade at 0.355 at the close. Meanwhile, Bank Of Queensland Ltd. (ASX:BOQ) added 8.95% or 0.51 points to end at 6.21 and Sydney Airport Holdings Ltd (ASX:SYD) was up 6.23% or 0.380 points to 6.480 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Nanosonics Ltd (ASX:NAN), which fell 5.71% or 0.42 points to trade at 6.93 at the close. Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) declined 4.59% or 1.40 points to end at 29.08 and Pro Medicus Ltd (ASX:PME) was down 4.43% or 1.23 points to 26.53.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 668 to 535 and 368 ended unchanged.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 2.74% to 20.777.
Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.81% or 14.05 to $1713.35 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in July rose 0.48% or 0.18 to hit $37.59 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract rose 0.78% or 0.31 to trade at $40.30 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.68% to 0.6989, while AUD/JPY rose 0.82% to 76.39.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.14% at 96.517.