Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Healthcare, IT and Industrials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.61% to hit a new 5-year high.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Ioof Holdings Ltd (ASX:IFL), which rose 6.92% or 0.380 points to trade at 5.870 at the close. Meanwhile, Nufarm Ltd (ASX:NUF) added 6.03% or 0.280 points to end at 4.920 and NRW Holdings Ltd (ASX:NWH) was up 5.70% or 0.130 points to 2.410 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Iluka Resources Ltd (ASX:ILU), which fell 6.73% or 0.670 points to trade at 9.290 at the close. Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX:NST) declined 5.83% or 0.810 points to end at 13.090 and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) was down 5.50% or 0.480 points to 8.250.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 677 to 504 and 363 ended unchanged.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 3.45% to 11.186.
Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.11% or 1.55 to $1425.15 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in September rose 0.45% or 0.25 to hit $56.13 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 0.43% or 0.27 to trade at $63.45 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.10% to 0.6969, while AUD/JPY fell 0.15% to 75.35.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.01% at 97.447.