Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Healthcare, Gold and Industrials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.16%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were NRW Holdings Ltd (ASX:NWH), which rose 15.36% or 0.26 points to trade at 1.99 at the close. Meanwhile, IPH Ltd (ASX:IPH) added 9.19% or 0.76 points to end at 9.03 and Challenger Ltd (ASX:CGF) was up 6.65% or 0.420 points to 6.740 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX:WES), which fell 7.48% or 4.110 points to trade at 50.810 at the close. Domain Holdings Australia Ltd (ASX:DHG) declined 6.22% or 0.29 points to end at 4.37 and Pro Medicus Ltd (ASX:PME) was down 6.02% or 2.89 points to 45.11.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 744 to 652 and 417 ended unchanged.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 1.25% to 15.305.
Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.33% or 6.20 to $1877.70 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March fell 1.10% or 1.03 to hit $92.63 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract fell 1.18% or 1.12 to trade at $93.69 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.04% to 0.7195, while AUD/JPY fell 0.14% to 82.92.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.14% at 95.830.