Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the IT, Metals & Mining and Consumer Discretionary sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.79% to hit a new 6-months high.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Zip Co Ltd (ASX:Z1P), which rose 23.08% or 1.38 points to trade at 7.36 at the close. Meanwhile, Netwealth Group Ltd (ASX:NWL) added 11.72% or 1.86 points to end at 17.73 and Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX:APT) was up 5.67% or 8.00 points to 149.00 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Cleanaway Waste Management Ltd (ASX:CWY), which fell 8.46% or 0.220 points to trade at 2.380 at the close. Super Retail Group Ltd (ASX:SUL) declined 4.63% or 0.55 points to end at 11.33 and Pro Medicus Ltd (ASX:PME) was down 3.45% or 1.45 points to 40.52.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 804 to 578 and 328 ended unchanged.
Shares in Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX:APT) rose to all time highs; gaining 5.67% or 8.00 to 149.00.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 6.39% to 13.125.
Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.07% or 1.35 to $1867.85 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March fell 0.38% or 0.20 to hit $53.11 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract fell 0.36% or 0.20 to trade at $55.88 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.17% to 0.7759, while AUD/JPY rose 0.14% to 80.30.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.19% at 90.297.