Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Metals & Mining, Materials and Resources sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.32%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were AMP Ltd (ASX:AMP), which rose 13.17% or 0.14 points to trade at 1.16 at the close. Meanwhile, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) added 8.11% or 1.63 points to end at 21.73 and OZ Minerals Ltd (ASX:OZL) was up 6.92% or 1.62 points to 25.03 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Silver Lake Resources Ltd (ASX:SLR), which fell 6.25% or 0.13 points to trade at 1.88 at the close. Polynovo Ltd (ASX:PNV) declined 4.62% or 0.05 points to end at 0.93 and EML Payments Ltd (ASX:EML) was down 2.87% or 0.05 points to 1.52.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 766 to 708 and 351 ended unchanged.
Shares in Polynovo Ltd (ASX:PNV) fell to 3-years lows; losing 4.62% or 0.05 to 0.93. Shares in EML Payments Ltd (ASX:EML) fell to 52-week lows; losing 2.87% or 0.05 to 1.52.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 9.63% to 15.51.
Gold Futures for June delivery was down 0.27% or 5.12 to $1,883.58 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in June fell 0.32% or 0.33 to hit $101.69 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract fell 0.43% or 0.45 to trade at $104.50 a barrel.
AUD/USD was unchanged 0.47% to 0.72, while AUD/JPY rose 2.10% to 93.43.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.20% at 103.17.