Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.21%

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

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.21%.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX:PBH), which rose 14.00% or 0.07 points to trade at 0.57 at the close. Meanwhile, Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) added 13.85% or 0.16 points to end at 1.32 and Codan Ltd (ASX:CDA) was up 10.44% or 1.35 points to 14.28 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Megaport Ltd (ASX:MP1), which fell 20.78% or 2.45 points to trade at 9.34 at the close. Insignia Financial Ltd (ASX:IFL) declined 15.70% or 0.46 points to end at 2.47 and Collins Foods Ltd (ASX:CKF) was down 12.70% or 1.12 points to 7.70.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 582 to 552 and 428 ended unchanged.

Shares in Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX:PBH) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 14.00% or 0.07 to 0.57. Shares in Codan Ltd (ASX:CDA) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 10.44% or 1.35 to 14.28. Shares in Collins Foods Ltd (ASX:CKF) fell to 52-week lows; down 12.70% or 1.12 to 7.70.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 1.59% to 11.92.

Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.03% or 0.75 to $2,546.75 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in October fell 0.22% or 0.16 to hit $71.77 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract fell 0.07% or 0.05 to trade at $76.00 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.04% to 0.67, while AUD/JPY fell 0.07% to 97.95.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.13% at 101.04.