Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Energy, Healthcare and Financials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.58%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were AUB Group Ltd (ASX:AUB), which rose 5.17% or 1.20 points to trade at 24.41 at the close. Meanwhile, Incitec Pivot Ltd (ASX:IPL) added 4.36% or 0.120 points to end at 2.870 and South32 Ltd (ASX:S32) was up 4.15% or 0.140 points to 3.510 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Washington H Soul Pattinson&Co Ltd (ASX:SOL), which fell 5.32% or 2.09 points to trade at 37.21 at the close. Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS) declined 4.90% or 0.120 points to end at 2.330 and Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX:PBH) was down 4.38% or 0.42 points to 9.18.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 783 to 616 and 402 ended unchanged.
Shares in South32 Ltd (ASX:S32) rose to 52-week highs; up 4.15% or 0.140 to 3.510. Shares in Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX:PBH) fell to 52-week lows; down 4.38% or 0.42 to 9.18.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 6.06% to 10.897.
Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.45% or 8.15 to $1786.65 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in October fell 0.03% or 0.02 to hit $72.59 a barrel, while the November Brent oil contract rose 0.03% or 0.02 to trade at $75.48 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.26% to 0.7315, while AUD/JPY fell 0.28% to 79.97.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.11% at 92.638.