Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Energy, Gold and Telecoms Services sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.51%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Nextdc Ltd (AX:NXT), which rose 9.76% or 0.560 points to trade at 6.300 at the close. Meanwhile, James Hardie Industries PLC (AX:JHX) added 6.77% or 1.500 points to end at 23.650 and Santos Ltd (AX:STO) was up 5.49% or 0.280 points to 5.380 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Asaleo Care (AX:AHY), which fell 6.17% or 0.100 points to trade at 1.520 at the close. Galaxy Resources Ltd (AX:GXY) declined 5.60% or 0.190 points to end at 3.200 and Syrah Resources Ltd (AX:SYR) was down 4.34% or 0.170 points to 3.750.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 641 to 609 and 350 ended unchanged.
Shares in Nextdc Ltd (AX:NXT) rose to all time highs; up 9.76% or 0.560 to 6.300. Shares in James Hardie Industries PLC (AX:JHX) rose to all time highs; rising 6.77% or 1.500 to 23.650.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 3.52% to 12.049.
Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.19% or 2.60 to $1350.50 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 0.47% or 0.31 to hit $66.11 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract rose 0.27% or 0.19 to trade at $69.84 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.45% to 0.8004, while AUD/JPY fell 0.23% to 87.77.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.14% at 88.60.