Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.95%

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

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.95%.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Skycity Entertainment Group Ltd (ASX:SKC), which rose 11.55% or 0.14 points to trade at 1.40 at the close. Meanwhile, St Barbara Ltd (ASX:SBM) added 9.38% or 0.03 points to end at 0.35 and Brickworks Ltd (ASX:BKW) was up 7.56% or 2.01 points to 28.61 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Austal Ltd (ASX:ASB), which fell 4.00% or 0.12 points to trade at 2.88 at the close. Woodside Energy Ltd (ASX:WDS) declined 2.96% or 0.75 points to end at 24.63 and Fletcher Building Ltd (ASX:FBU) was down 2.92% or 0.08 points to 2.66.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 735 to 400 and 418 ended unchanged.

Shares in St Barbara Ltd (ASX:SBM) rose to 52-week highs; up 9.38% or 0.03 to 0.35.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 2.70% to 11.62.

Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.02% or 0.50 to $2,684.20 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in November fell 2.60% or 1.81 to hit $67.88 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract fell 2.50% or 1.82 to trade at $71.08 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.58% to 0.69, while AUD/JPY rose 0.48% to 99.27.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.12% at 100.51.