Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Energy, Financials and Healthcare sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.05%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Pinnacle Investment Management Group Ltd (ASX:PNI), which rose 11.18% or 0.56 points to trade at 5.57 at the close. Meanwhile, Janus Henderson Group PLC DRC (ASX:JHG) added 7.08% or 2.72 points to end at 41.16 and Elders Ltd (ASX:ELD) was up 6.13% or 0.48 points to 8.31 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Service Stream Ltd (ASX:SSM), which fell 9.09% or 0.250 points to trade at 2.500 at the close. Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS) declined 5.80% or 0.020 points to end at 0.325 and Blackmores Ltd (ASX:BKL) was down 3.84% or 3.65 points to 91.30.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 706 to 495 and 310 ended unchanged.
Shares in Janus Henderson Group PLC DRC (ASX:JHG) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 7.08% or 2.72 to 41.16. Shares in Elders Ltd (ASX:ELD) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 6.13% or 0.48 to 8.31.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 7.93% to 13.398.
Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.21% or 3.35 to $1559.45 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 2.42% or 1.23 to hit $51.98 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract rose 2.04% or 1.13 to trade at $56.41 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.19% to 0.6757, while AUD/JPY rose 0.31% to 74.29.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.02% at 98.175.