Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Tuesday, as gains in the Metals & Mining, Materials and Resources sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.46% to hit a new 1-month high.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Monadelphous Group Ltd (ASX:MND), which rose 5.36% or 0.67 points to trade at 13.17 at the close. Meanwhile, Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS) added 5.23% or 0.24 points to end at 4.83 and Champion Iron Ltd (ASX:CIA) was up 4.96% or 0.28 points to 5.93 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were EML Payments Ltd (ASX:EML), which fell 9.94% or 0.09 points to trade at 0.77 at the close. Mesoblast Ltd (ASX:MSB) declined 5.49% or 0.07 points to end at 1.21 and St Barbara Ltd (ASX:SBM) was down 5.45% or 0.02 points to 0.26.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 673 to 564 and 430 ended unchanged.
Shares in St Barbara Ltd (ASX:SBM) fell to 5-year lows; losing 5.45% or 0.02 to 0.26.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 1.09% to 10.90.
Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.30% or 5.80 to $1,956.40 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in September rose 0.25% or 0.20 to hit $78.94 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract rose 0.19% or 0.16 to trade at $82.64 a barrel.
AUD/USD was unchanged 0.37% to 0.68, while AUD/JPY rose 0.36% to 95.69.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.17% at 101.25.