Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.24%

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

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.24% to hit a new all time high.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Platinum Asset Management Ltd (ASX:PTM), which rose 12.63% or 0.13 points to trade at 1.12 at the close. Meanwhile, Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) added 6.64% or 0.10 points to end at 1.61 and Polynovo Ltd (ASX:PNV) was up 5.71% or 0.14 points to 2.59 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Healius Ltd (ASX:HLS), which fell 2.62% or 0.05 points to trade at 1.67 at the close. Westgold Resources Ltd (ASX:WGX) declined 2.54% or 0.07 points to end at 2.69 and Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd (ASX:HVN) was down 2.43% or 0.12 points to 4.81.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 552 to 528 and 438 ended unchanged.

Shares in Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) rose to 52-week highs; up 6.64% or 0.10 to 1.61.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 3.11% to 12.09.

Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.12% or 3.05 to $2,611.95 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in November rose 0.64% or 0.44 to hit $69.46 a barrel, while the November Brent oil contract rose 0.47% or 0.34 to trade at $73.09 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.08% to 0.68, while AUD/JPY rose 0.05% to 94.97.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.08% at 100.36.