Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Metals & Mining, Resources and Materials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.38%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG), which rose 13.27% or 2.420 points to trade at 20.650 at the close. Meanwhile, Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX:WHC) added 8.79% or 0.120 points to end at 1.485 and Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX:MIN) was up 7.56% or 2.41 points to 34.28 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Mesoblast Ltd (ASX:MSB), which fell 3.84% or 0.170 points to trade at 4.260 at the close. Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Ltd (ASX:FPH) declined 3.19% or 1.05 points to end at 31.91 and AMP Ltd (ASX:AMP) was down 3.12% or 0.055 points to 1.710.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 665 to 588 and 346 ended unchanged.
Shares in Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) rose to all time highs; gaining 13.27% or 2.420 to 20.650. Shares in Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX:MIN) rose to all time highs; gaining 7.56% or 2.41 to 34.28.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 8.72% to 13.214 a new 6-months low.
Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.73% or 13.35 to $1843.55 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 0.09% or 0.04 to hit $45.32 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 0.23% or 0.11 to trade at $48.36 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.19% to 0.7429, while AUD/JPY rose 0.15% to 77.53.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.18% at 90.950.