Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.55%

Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the , and sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Sydney, the added 0.55%.

The best performers of the session on the were Nearmap Ltd (ASX:), which rose 14.06% or 0.350 points to trade at 2.840 at the close. Meanwhile, Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX:) added 7.49% or 2.200 points to end at 31.570 and Nanosonics Ltd (ASX:) was up 6.15% or 0.430 points to 7.420 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were G8 Education Ltd (ASX:), which fell 17.76% or 0.460 points to trade at 2.130 at the close. Costa Group Holdings Ltd (ASX:) declined 3.64% or 0.100 points to end at 2.650 and National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:) was down 3.44% or 0.990 points to 27.800.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 634 to 516 and 342 ended unchanged.

Shares in G8 Education Ltd (ASX:) fell to 52-week lows; falling 17.76% or 0.460 to 2.130. Shares in Nanosonics Ltd (ASX:) rose to all time highs; rising 6.15% or 0.430 to 7.420.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 3.39% to 10.975.

Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.24% or 3.55 to $1466.85 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in December rose 0.70% or 0.40 to hit $57.52 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract rose 0.64% or 0.40 to trade at $62.77 a barrel.

AUD/USD was down 0.56% to 0.6799, while AUD/JPY fell 0.63% to 73.92.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.05% at 98.280.

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