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

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

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.61% to hit a new all time high.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Sims Metal Management Ltd (ASX:SGM), which rose 12.42% or 1.37 points to trade at 12.40 at the close. Meanwhile, Zip Co Ltd (ASX:ZIP) added 9.24% or 0.22 points to end at 2.60 and Nuix Ltd (ASX:NXL) was up 7.13% or 0.39 points to 5.86 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were ALS Ltd (ASX:ALQ), which fell 8.36% or 1.25 points to trade at 13.70 at the close. EML Payments Ltd (ASX:EML) declined 4.96% or 0.04 points to end at 0.67 and Computershare Ltd. (ASX:CPU) was down 3.91% or 1.06 points to 26.03.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 646 to 447 and 428 ended unchanged.

Shares in Zip Co Ltd (ASX:ZIP) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 9.24% or 0.22 to 2.60. Shares in EML Payments Ltd (ASX:EML) fell to 52-week lows; down 4.96% or 0.04 to 0.67. Shares in Nuix Ltd (ASX:NXL) rose to 3-years highs; up 7.13% or 0.39 to 5.86.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 0.47% to 11.76.

Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.08% or 2.15 to $2,600.75 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in November rose 0.69% or 0.48 to hit $70.36 a barrel, while the November Brent oil contract rose 0.65% or 0.48 to trade at $74.13 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.65% to 0.68, while AUD/JPY rose 1.06% to 97.16.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.29% at 100.58.