Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the A-REITs, Healthcare and Financials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.49% to hit a new 5-year high.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Speedcast International Ltd (ASX:SDA), which rose 9.88% or 0.170 points to trade at 1.890 at the close. Meanwhile, Hub24 Ltd (ASX:HUB) added 8.74% or 0.950 points to end at 11.820 and Eclipx Group Ltd (ASX:ECX) was up 7.08% or 0.085 points to 1.285 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS), which fell 5.77% or 0.030 points to trade at 0.490 at the close. Bravura Solutions Ltd (ASX:BVS) declined 4.72% or 0.220 points to end at 4.440 and Invocare Ltd (ASX:IVC) was down 3.10% or 0.510 points to 15.940.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 713 to 458 and 356 ended unchanged.
Shares in Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS) fell to 52-week lows; falling 5.77% or 0.030 to 0.490.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 7.63% to 10.539 a new 1-month low.
Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.30% or 4.25 to $1416.65 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August fell 1.12% or 0.64 to hit $56.70 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract fell 1.10% or 0.70 to trade at $63.12 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.07% to 0.7033, while AUD/JPY rose 0.07% to 75.83.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.03% at 96.357.