Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Gold, Utilities and Materials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.45%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Boral Ltd. (ASX:BLD), which rose 6.38% or 0.440 points to trade at 7.340 at the close. Meanwhile, Kogan.com Ltd (ASX:KGN) added 6.09% or 0.70 points to end at 12.20 and Adelaide Brighton Ltd (ASX:ABC) was up 4.88% or 0.160 points to 3.440 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Nuix Ltd (ASX:NXL), which fell 3.91% or 0.10 points to trade at 2.46 at the close. Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS) declined 3.88% or 0.060 points to end at 1.485 and Zip Co Ltd (ASX:Z1P) was down 3.06% or 0.26 points to 8.23.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 770 to 623 and 397 ended unchanged.
Shares in Boral Ltd. (ASX:BLD) rose to 3-years highs; rising 6.38% or 0.440 to 7.340. Shares in Nuix Ltd (ASX:NXL) fell to all time lows; down 3.91% or 0.10 to 2.46.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 2.72% to 11.240 a new 1-month low.
Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.30% or 5.40 to $1782.10 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 0.23% or 0.17 to hit $73.47 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract rose 0.25% or 0.19 to trade at $75.75 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.18% to 0.7595, while AUD/JPY rose 0.11% to 84.14.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.05% at 91.748.