Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the IT, Energy and Utilities sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.00%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were News Corp B DRC (ASX:NWS), which rose 8.42% or 2.53 points to trade at 32.56 at the close. Meanwhile, Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX:WHC) added 7.24% or 0.210 points to end at 3.110 and Corporate Travel Managment Ltd (ASX:CTD) was up 6.56% or 1.46 points to 23.71 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Reliance Worldwide Corporation Ltd (ASX:RWC), which fell 2.39% or 0.13 points to trade at 5.30 at the close. Westgold Resources Ltd (ASX:WGX) declined 2.33% or 0.040 points to end at 1.680 and Ramelius Resources Ltd (ASX:RMS) was down 1.41% or 0.020 points to 1.395.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 988 to 419 and 359 ended unchanged.
Shares in Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX:WHC) rose to 52-week highs; rising 7.24% or 0.210 to 3.110. Shares in Corporate Travel Managment Ltd (ASX:CTD) rose to 52-week highs; rising 6.56% or 1.46 to 23.71.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 9.93% to 12.205.
Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.67% or 11.95 to $1766.85 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in November rose 0.18% or 0.13 to hit $72.36 a barrel, while the November Brent oil contract rose 0.20% or 0.15 to trade at $76.34 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.23% to 0.7262, while AUD/JPY rose 0.41% to 79.87.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.21% at 93.263.