Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.59%

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

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.59% to hit a new 3-months high.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Virgin Money PLC (ASX:VUK), which rose 10.63% or 0.27 points to trade at 2.81 at the close. Meanwhile, Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX:WHC) added 7.81% or 0.66 points to end at 9.11 and Resolute Mining Ltd (ASX:RSG) was up 5.56% or 0.01 points to 0.19 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Zip Co Ltd (ASX:ZIP), which fell 3.85% or 0.03 points to trade at 0.75 at the close. Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) declined 3.35% or 0.09 points to end at 2.60 and Kogan.com Ltd (ASX:KGN) was down 2.56% or 0.09 points to 3.42.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 633 to 625 and 429 ended unchanged.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 5.62% to 13.77 a new 1-month low.

Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.30% or 5.15 to $1,744.75 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 0.60% or 0.48 to hit $80.52 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract rose 0.77% or 0.67 to trade at $88.12 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.22% to 0.66, while AUD/JPY unchanged 0.00% to 93.87.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.24% at 107.47.