Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Gold, Metals & Mining and Resources sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.69%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were IGO Ltd (ASX:IGO), which rose 7.84% or 0.54 points to trade at 7.43 at the close. Meanwhile, Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS) added 7.51% or 0.26 points to end at 3.72 and Omni Bridgeway Ltd (ASX:OBL) was up 7.28% or 0.11 points to 1.62 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Inghams Group Ltd (ASX:ING), which fell 12.73% or 0.55 points to trade at 3.77 at the close. Pro Medicus Ltd (ASX:PME) declined 7.43% or 6.98 points to end at 87.02 and Domain Holdings Australia Ltd (ASX:DHG) was down 5.37% or 0.19 points to 3.35.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 663 to 525 and 348 ended unchanged.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 1.17% to 11.37.
Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.03% or 0.60 to $2,015.50 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 0.06% or 0.05 to hit $78.08 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract fell 0.11% or 0.09 to trade at $82.77 a barrel.
AUD/USD was unchanged 0.08% to 0.65, while AUD/JPY rose 0.13% to 97.95.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.11% at 104.32.