Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Monday, as gains in the Utilities, Consumer Staples and Telecoms Services sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.16%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX:A2M), which rose 11.13% or 0.59 points to trade at 5.89 at the close. Meanwhile, AGL Energy Ltd (ASX:AGL) added 10.61% or 0.76 points to end at 7.92 and Chorus Ltd (ASX:CNU) was up 9.94% or 0.62 points to 6.86 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX:PBH), which fell 11.11% or 0.50 points to trade at 4.00 at the close. Super Retail Group Ltd (ASX:SUL) declined 9.49% or 1.22 points to end at 11.63 and Zip Co Ltd (ASX:Z1P) was down 7.78% or 0.20 points to 2.37.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 922 to 520 and 379 ended unchanged.
Shares in Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX:PBH) fell to 52-week lows; down 11.11% or 0.50 to 4.00. Shares in Zip Co Ltd (ASX:Z1P) fell to 52-week lows; losing 7.78% or 0.20 to 2.37.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 3.30% to 16.050.
Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.35% or 6.70 to $1893.10 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in April fell 0.60% or 0.54 to hit $89.67 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract fell 0.47% or 0.43 to trade at $90.96 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.59% to 0.7215, while AUD/JPY rose 0.66% to 82.94.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.28% at 95.750.