Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.32%

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

At the close in Sydney, the gained 0.32% to hit a new all time high.

The best performers of the session on the were Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:), which rose 8.57% or 0.030 points to trade at 0.380 at the close. Meanwhile, Costa Group Holdings Ltd (ASX:) added 4.65% or 0.120 points to end at 2.700 and Appen Ltd (ASX:) was up 4.44% or 1.110 points to 26.110 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Nufarm Ltd (ASX:), which fell 10.02% or 0.610 points to trade at 5.480 at the close. Blackmores Ltd (ASX:) declined 3.36% or 3.01 points to end at 86.48 and Vocus Group Ltd (ASX:) was down 2.94% or 0.100 points to 3.300.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 634 to 543 and 338 ended unchanged.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 3.05% to 11.273.

Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.29% or 4.45 to $1554.95 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in February fell 0.02% or 0.01 to hit $58.51 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract fell 0.05% or 0.03 to trade at $64.59 a barrel.

AUD/USD was down 0.01% to 0.6897, while AUD/JPY rose 0.08% to 76.03.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.01% at 97.050.

Disclaimer: Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. All CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Therefore Fusion Media doesn`t bear any responsibility for any trading losses you might incur as a result of using this data.

Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.