Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Monday, as gains in the Telecoms Services, Utilities and Consumer Discretionary sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.31%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were TPG Telecom Ltd (AX:TPM), which rose 3.93% or 0.330 points to trade at 8.730 at the close. Meanwhile, Metcash Ltd (AX:MTS) added 3.65% or 0.100 points to end at 2.840 and Pilbara Minerals Ltd (AX:PLS) was up 3.27% or 0.025 points to 0.790 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Estia Health Ltd (AX:EHE), which fell 17.63% or 0.520 points to trade at 2.430 at the close. Aveo Group (AX:AOG) declined 6.76% or 0.150 points to end at 2.070 and Speedcast International Ltd (AX:SDA) was down 5.79% or 0.250 points to 4.070.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 580 to 571 and 388 ended unchanged.
Shares in Estia Health Ltd (AX:EHE) fell to 52-week lows; down 17.63% or 0.520 to 2.430. Shares in Aveo Group (AX:AOG) fell to 3-years lows; down 6.76% or 0.150 to 2.070.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 5.10% to 12.785.
Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.02% or 0.30 to $1200.80 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in November fell 0.10% or 0.07 to hit $68.70 a barrel, while the November Brent oil contract fell 0.08% or 0.06 to trade at $78.03 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.13% to 0.7163, while AUD/JPY rose 0.02% to 80.19.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.06% at 94.45.