Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.79%

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

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.79%.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Bega Cheese Ltd (ASX:BGA), which rose 11.76% or 0.44 points to trade at 4.18 at the close. Meanwhile, Viva Energy Group Ltd (ASX:VEA) added 6.88% or 0.19 points to end at 2.95 and Qantas Airways Ltd (ASX:QAN) was up 6.58% or 0.32 points to 5.18 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Polynovo Ltd (ASX:PNV), which fell 18.81% or 0.38 points to trade at 1.64 at the close. Westgold Resources Ltd (ASX:WGX) declined 17.60% or 0.21 points to end at 0.96 and Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) was down 5.58% or 0.23 points to 3.89.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 682 to 654 and 409 ended unchanged.

Shares in Westgold Resources Ltd (ASX:WGX) fell to 3-years lows; down 17.60% or 0.21 to 0.96. Shares in Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) fell to 5-year lows; falling 5.58% or 0.23 to 3.89.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 5.93% to 13.76.

Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.36% or 6.35 to $1,765.05 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in October rose 1.26% or 1.17 to hit $93.69 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract rose 1.22% or 1.21 to trade at $100.55 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.34% to 0.70, while AUD/JPY rose 0.06% to 95.33.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.14% at 108.58.