Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.61%

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

At the close in Sydney, the gained 0.61%.

The best performers of the session on the were Challenger Ltd (ASX:), which rose 12.85% or 1.140 points to trade at 10.010 at the close. Meanwhile, Steadfast Group Ltd (ASX:) added 5.56% or 0.21 points to end at 3.99 and Avita Medical (ASX:) was up 5.23% or 0.040 points to 0.805 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were JB Hi-Fi Ltd (ASX:), which fell 3.94% or 1.76 points to trade at 42.95 at the close. Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX:) declined 3.94% or 0.16 points to end at 3.90 and Cochlear Ltd (ASX:) was down 3.39% or 8.29 points to 236.47.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 665 to 491 and 365 ended unchanged.

Shares in Challenger Ltd (ASX:) rose to 52-week highs; up 12.85% or 1.140 to 10.010. Shares in Steadfast Group Ltd (ASX:) rose to all time highs; up 5.56% or 0.21 to 3.99. Shares in Avita Medical (ASX:) rose to 5-year highs; up 5.23% or 0.040 to 0.805.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 5.38% to 13.378.

Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.51% or 8.05 to $1571.45 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 1.39% or 0.69 to hit $50.26 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract rose 1.60% or 0.85 to trade at $54.12 a barrel.

AUD/USD was up 0.46% to 0.6716, while AUD/JPY rose 0.61% to 73.83.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.04% at 98.752.

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