Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.51%

Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Gold, A-REITs and IT sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.51%.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX:NST), which rose 4.72% or 0.48 points to trade at 10.66 at the close. Meanwhile, Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX:CUV) added 4.53% or 0.64 points to end at 14.76 and Silver Lake Resources Ltd (ASX:SLR) was up 2.98% or 0.03 points to 0.87 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Omni Bridgeway Ltd (ASX:OBL), which fell 5.48% or 0.10 points to trade at 1.64 at the close. IGO Ltd (ASX:IGO) declined 3.98% or 0.48 points to end at 11.57 and Aristocrat Leisure Ltd (ASX:ALL) was down 3.66% or 1.49 points to 39.18.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 639 to 499 and 388 ended unchanged.

Shares in Omni Bridgeway Ltd (ASX:OBL) fell to 5-year lows; losing 5.48% or 0.10 to 1.64. Shares in IGO Ltd (ASX:IGO) fell to 52-week lows; falling 3.98% or 0.48 to 11.57.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 8.48% to 13.50.

Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.04% or 0.80 to $1,835.60 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in November unchanged 0.00% or 0.00 to hit $84.22 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract rose 0.13% or 0.11 to trade at $85.92 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.33% to 0.63, while AUD/JPY rose 0.22% to 94.53.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.04% at 106.48.