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 gained 0.48%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Crown Ltd (ASX:CWN), which rose 8.77% or 1.020 points to trade at 12.650 at the close. Meanwhile, Nickel Mines Ltd (ASX:NIC) added 5.16% or 0.080 points to end at 1.630 and Champion Iron Ltd (ASX:CIA) was up 4.39% or 0.270 points to 6.420 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Polynovo Ltd (ASX:PNV), which fell 10.08% or 0.185 points to trade at 1.650 at the close. Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX:PBH) declined 5.85% or 0.39 points to end at 6.28 and Sonic Healthcare Ltd (ASX:SHL) was down 5.60% or 2.45 points to 41.27.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 766 to 689 and 389 ended unchanged.
Shares in Nickel Mines Ltd (ASX:NIC) rose to all time highs; gaining 5.16% or 0.080 to 1.630.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 2.60% to 12.645.
Gold Futures for February delivery was down 0.02% or 0.35 to $1826.95 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in February fell 0.50% or 0.41 to hit $82.23 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract fell 0.50% or 0.42 to trade at $84.25 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.24% to 0.7301, while AUD/JPY rose 0.09% to 83.57.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.10% at 94.802.