Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Monday, as gains in the IT, Consumer Discretionary and Financials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.26%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX:APT), which rose 8.83% or 8.92 points to trade at 109.93 at the close. Meanwhile, GWA Group Ltd (ASX:GWA) added 7.52% or 0.23 points to end at 3.29 and Tassal Group Ltd (ASX:TGR) was up 5.80% or 0.20 points to 3.65 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Avita Therapeutics Inc (ASX:AVH), which fell 5.28% or 0.290 points to trade at 5.200 at the close. Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX:WHC) declined 4.44% or 0.075 points to end at 1.615 and Deterra Royalties Ltd (ASX:DRR) was down 3.80% or 0.19 points to 4.81.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 744 to 589 and 325 ended unchanged.
Shares in Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX:APT) rose to all time highs; up 8.83% or 8.92 to 109.93. Shares in Avita Therapeutics Inc (ASX:AVH) fell to 52-week lows; losing 5.28% or 0.290 to 5.200.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 11.02% to 14.503.
Gold Futures for February delivery was down 0.39% or 7.15 to $1836.45 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 1.35% or 0.63 to hit $47.20 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 1.32% or 0.66 to trade at $50.63 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.39% to 0.7562, while AUD/JPY rose 0.23% to 78.62.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.38% at 90.580.