Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.34%

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

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.34%.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Zip Co Ltd (ASX:ZIP), which rose 11.83% or 0.33 points to trade at 3.12 at the close. Meanwhile, Premier Investments Ltd (ASX:PMV) added 9.91% or 3.06 points to end at 33.94 and Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX:MIN) was up 7.15% or 2.47 points to 37.00 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Resmed Inc DRC (ASX:RMD), which fell 2.97% or 1.16 points to trade at 37.91 at the close. Perenti Global Ltd (ASX:PRN) declined 2.50% or 0.03 points to end at 1.17 and Seek Ltd (ASX:SEK) was down 2.67% or 0.68 points to 24.76.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 574 to 512 and 438 ended unchanged.

Shares in Zip Co Ltd (ASX:ZIP) rose to 52-week highs; rising 11.83% or 0.33 to 3.12. Shares in Resmed Inc DRC (ASX:RMD) fell to 3-years highs; down 2.97% or 1.16 to 37.91.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 4.45% to 11.87.

Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.37% or 10.20 to $2,766.10 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in December rose 0.01% or 0.01 to hit $67.39 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract unchanged 0.00% or 0.00 to trade at $71.00 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.24% to 0.66, while AUD/JPY fell 0.53% to 100.38.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.03% at 104.15.