Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.27%

Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Monday, as gains in the Telecoms Services, Financials and Consumer Discretionary sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.27% to hit a new all time high.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Austal Ltd (ASX:ASB), which rose 17.86% or 0.40 points to trade at 2.64 at the close. Meanwhile, St Barbara Ltd (ASX:SBM) added 7.84% or 0.02 points to end at 0.28 and Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX:EVN) was up 4.17% or 0.18 points to 4.50 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Tabcorp Holdings Ltd (ASX:TAH), which fell 5.56% or 0.03 points to trade at 0.43 at the close. Polynovo Ltd (ASX:PNV) declined 5.04% or 0.13 points to end at 2.45 and Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX:PBH) was down 4.41% or 0.03 points to 0.65.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 572 to 545 and 430 ended unchanged.

Shares in Austal Ltd (ASX:ASB) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 17.86% or 0.40 to 2.64. Shares in Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX:EVN) rose to 52-week highs; rising 4.17% or 0.18 to 4.50.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 0.68% to 12.49.

Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.21% or 5.50 to $2,616.20 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in November rose 0.40% or 0.27 to hit $68.02 a barrel, while the November Brent oil contract rose 0.28% or 0.20 to trade at $71.81 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.32% to 0.67, while AUD/JPY fell 0.19% to 94.25.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.29% at 100.50.