Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Gold, Utilities and Industrials 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 Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX:MFG), which rose 5.17% or 1.03 points to trade at 20.96 at the close. Meanwhile, Nickel Mines Ltd (ASX:NIC) added 4.73% or 0.065 points to end at 1.440 and St Barbara Ltd (ASX:SBM) was up 4.33% or 0.060 points to 1.445 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Bega Cheese Ltd (ASX:BGA), which fell 10.32% or 0.58 points to trade at 5.04 at the close. Wisetech Global Ltd (ASX:WTC) declined 2.57% or 1.55 points to end at 58.67 and Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX:APT) was down 2.39% or 2.09 points to 85.40.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 885 to 466 and 413 ended unchanged.
Shares in Bega Cheese Ltd (ASX:BGA) fell to 52-week lows; losing 10.32% or 0.58 to 5.04.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 3.36% to 11.144 a new 3-months low.
Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.27% or 4.95 to $1807.15 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 0.03% or 0.02 to hit $72.78 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract unchanged 0.00% or 0.00 to trade at $75.28 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.18% to 0.7226, while AUD/JPY rose 0.31% to 82.57.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.01% at 96.070.