Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 1.44%

Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Tuesday, as gains in the Utilities, Gold and Consumer Discretionary sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.44%.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were AGL Energy Ltd (ASX:AGL), which rose 7.51% or 0.70 points to trade at 10.02 at the close. Meanwhile, Star Entertainment Group Ltd (ASX:SGR) added 5.75% or 0.03 points to end at 0.46 and Domain Holdings Australia Ltd (ASX:DHG) was up 5.47% or 0.17 points to 3.28 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Omni Bridgeway Ltd (ASX:OBL), which fell 10.48% or 0.11 points to trade at 0.94 at the close. Sims Metal Management Ltd (ASX:SGM) declined 6.52% or 0.77 points to end at 11.04 and Bapcor Ltd (ASX:BAP) was down 3.45% or 0.16 points to 4.48.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 677 to 491 and 453 ended unchanged.

Shares in Omni Bridgeway Ltd (ASX:OBL) fell to 5-year lows; losing 10.48% or 0.11 to 0.94. Shares in Sims Metal Management Ltd (ASX:SGM) fell to 3-years lows; down 6.52% or 0.77 to 11.04.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 3.50% to 11.30.

Gold Futures for June delivery was down 0.15% or 3.55 to $2,327.65 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in June rose 0.14% or 0.11 to hit $78.59 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract rose 0.13% or 0.11 to trade at $83.44 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.51% to 0.66, while AUD/JPY fell 0.11% to 101.79.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.20% at 105.13.