Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Energy, Resources and Consumer Discretionary sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.26%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Boral Ltd. (ASX:BLD), which rose 8.47% or 0.37 points to trade at 4.74 at the close. Meanwhile, AUB Group Ltd (ASX:AUB) added 6.25% or 1.68 points to end at 28.58 and Mesoblast Ltd (ASX:MSB) was up 5.71% or 0.02 points to 0.37 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Downer Edi Ltd (ASX:DOW), which fell 6.39% or 0.28 points to trade at 4.10 at the close. Xero Ltd (ASX:XRO) declined 3.72% or 4.54 points to end at 117.50 and AGL Energy Ltd (ASX:AGL) was down 3.11% or 0.36 points to 11.22.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 694 to 524 and 413 ended unchanged.
Shares in Boral Ltd. (ASX:BLD) rose to 5-year highs; rising 8.47% or 0.37 to 4.74.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 1.60% to 10.97.
Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.04% or 0.85 to $1,951.45 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in September rose 0.25% or 0.21 to hit $84.61 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract rose 0.30% or 0.26 to trade at $87.81 a barrel.
AUD/USD was unchanged 0.42% to 0.66, while AUD/JPY rose 0.48% to 94.28.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.21% at 102.10.