Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Monday, as gains in the A-REITs, Utilities and Financials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.70%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Healius Ltd (ASX:HLS), which rose 6.52% or 0.08 points to trade at 1.23 at the close. Meanwhile, Mesoblast Ltd (ASX:MSB) added 5.99% or 0.07 points to end at 1.15 and Austal Ltd (ASX:ASB) was up 5.34% or 0.13 points to 2.47 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Omni Bridgeway Ltd (ASX:OBL), which fell 8.26% or 0.10 points to trade at 1.06 at the close. Spark New Zealand Ltd (ASX:SPK) declined 4.24% or 0.18 points to end at 4.07 and Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX:PBH) was down 4.17% or 0.02 points to 0.46.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 579 to 566 and 477 ended unchanged.
Shares in Omni Bridgeway Ltd (ASX:OBL) fell to 5-year lows; falling 8.26% or 0.10 to 1.06. Shares in Spark New Zealand Ltd (ASX:SPK) fell to 52-week lows; down 4.24% or 0.18 to 4.07.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 0.13% to 11.71.
Gold Futures for June delivery was up 0.60% or 13.90 to $2,322.50 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in June rose 0.67% or 0.52 to hit $78.63 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract rose 0.61% or 0.51 to trade at $83.47 a barrel.
AUD/USD was unchanged 0.17% to 0.66, while AUD/JPY rose 0.52% to 101.81.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.11% at 105.04.