Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Tuesday, as gains in the Gold, Energy and Industrials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.36%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd (ASX:LNG), which rose 8.01% or 0.270 points to trade at 3.640 at the close. Meanwhile, Mermaid Marine Australia Ltd (ASX:MRM) added 6.57% or 0.045 points to end at 0.730 and Sundance Energy Australia Ltd (ASX:SEA) was up 5.43% or 0.025 points to 0.485 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were BC Iron Ltd (ASX:BCI), which fell 11.59% or 0.040 points to trade at 0.305 at the close. Mesoblast Ltd (ASX:MSB) declined 7.12% or 0.250 points to end at 3.260 and Beadell Resources Ltd (ASX:BDR) was down 5.88% or 0.015 points to 0.240.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Australia Stock Exchange by 496 to 493 and 208 ended unchanged.
Shares in BC Iron Ltd (ASX:BCI) fell to 3-year lows; falling 11.59% or 0.040 to 0.305. Shares in Mesoblast Ltd (ASX:MSB) fell to 3-year lows; losing 7.12% or 0.250 to 3.260.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 1.36% to 14.556.
Gold for June delivery was down 0.34% or 4.10 to $1214.50 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in May fell 0.53% or 0.28 to hit $51.87 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract fell 0.41% or 0.23 to trade at $57.65 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 1.46% to 0.7703, while AUD/JPY rose 1.46% to 92.08.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.02% at 97.18.