Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.41%

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

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.41%.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Ramelius Resources Ltd (ASX:RMS), which rose 6.02% or 0.09 points to trade at 1.59 at the close. Meanwhile, Qbe Insurance Group Ltd (ASX:QBE) added 2.71% or 0.41 points to end at 15.56 and Skycity Entertainment Group Ltd (ASX:SKC) was up 2.55% or 0.05 points to 1.81 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX:MFG), which fell 18.50% or 1.63 points to trade at 7.18 at the close. Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) declined 7.14% or 0.08 points to end at 1.04 and IGO Ltd (ASX:IGO) was down 4.41% or 0.51 points to 11.06.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 626 to 520 and 371 ended unchanged.

Shares in Ramelius Resources Ltd (ASX:RMS) rose to 52-week highs; rising 6.02% or 0.09 to 1.59. Shares in Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX:MFG) fell to 5-year lows; down 18.50% or 1.63 to 7.18. Shares in Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) fell to 5-year lows; falling 7.14% or 0.08 to 1.04. Shares in IGO Ltd (ASX:IGO) fell to 52-week lows; falling 4.41% or 0.51 to 11.06.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 2.84% to 13.11.

Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.10% or 1.75 to $1,833.55 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in November rose 0.64% or 0.53 to hit $82.84 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract rose 0.51% or 0.43 to trade at $84.50 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.04% to 0.64, while AUD/JPY rose 0.22% to 94.81.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.08% at 106.15.