Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.39%

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

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.39%.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Collins Foods Ltd (ASX:CKF), which rose 8.42% or 0.85 points to trade at 10.95 at the close. Meanwhile, St Barbara Ltd (ASX:SBM) added 8.11% or 0.02 points to end at 0.20 and Healius Ltd (ASX:HLS) was up 6.77% or 0.09 points to 1.42 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Bapcor Ltd (ASX:BAP), which fell 2.47% or 0.13 points to trade at 5.14 at the close. Carsales.Com Ltd (ASX:CAR) declined 2.02% or 0.56 points to end at 27.11 and Monadelphous Group Ltd (ASX:MND) was down 1.62% or 0.24 points to 14.24.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 651 to 563 and 384 ended unchanged.

Shares in Collins Foods Ltd (ASX:CKF) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 8.42% or 0.85 to 10.95. Shares in Bapcor Ltd (ASX:BAP) fell to 3-years lows; down 2.47% or 0.13 to 5.14.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 3.02% to 10.55.

Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.15% or 3.05 to $2,015.45 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 0.04% or 0.03 to hit $74.89 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 0.08% or 0.06 to trade at $79.93 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.25% to 0.66, while AUD/JPY fell 0.04% to 98.19.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.03% at 103.08.