Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Healthcare, Metals & Mining and Materials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.14%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Mayne Pharma Group Ltd (AX:MYX), which rose 5.42% or 0.058 points to trade at 1.117 at the close. Meanwhile, Iluka Resources Ltd (AX:ILU) added 4.82% or 0.390 points to end at 8.480 and TPG Telecom Ltd (AX:TPM) was up 4.46% or 0.250 points to 5.860 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Ardent Leisure Group (AX:AAD), which fell 6.10% or 0.130 points to trade at 2.000 at the close. Infigen Energy (AX:IFN) declined 5.13% or 0.040 points to end at 0.740 and Orocobre Ltd (AX:ORE) was down 4.21% or 0.150 points to 3.410.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 625 to 533 and 424 ended unchanged.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 6.90% to 12.583.
Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.40% or 4.94 to $1254.34 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 0.49% or 0.21 to hit $42.95 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract rose 0.51% or 0.23 to trade at $45.45 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.21% to 0.7557, while AUD/JPY rose 0.17% to 84.10.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.11% at 97.15.