Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Energy, Resources and Metals & Mining sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.45%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were St Barbara Ltd (ASX:SBM), which rose 9.64% or 0.08 points to trade at 0.91 at the close. Meanwhile, Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS) added 6.82% or 0.15 points to end at 2.35 and Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX:WHC) was up 6.34% or 0.30 points to 5.03 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Skycity Entertainment Group Ltd (ASX:SKC), which fell 6.45% or 0.16 points to trade at 2.32 at the close. Orora Ltd (ASX:ORA) declined 5.93% or 0.21 points to end at 3.33 and Collins Foods Ltd (ASX:CKF) was down 3.89% or 0.41 points to 10.13.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 925 to 400 and 366 ended unchanged.
Shares in Skycity Entertainment Group Ltd (ASX:SKC) fell to 52-week lows; down 6.45% or 0.16 to 2.32.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 4.19% to 17.22.
Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.42% or 7.35 to $1,732.35 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August fell 0.82% or 0.84 to hit $101.89 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract fell 0.51% or 0.53 to trade at $104.12 a barrel.
AUD/USD was unchanged 0.48% to 0.68, while AUD/JPY fell 0.55% to 92.46.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.57% at 107.57.