Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.45%

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

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.45%.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Austal Ltd (ASX:ASB), which rose 12.93% or 0.30 points to trade at 2.62 at the close. Meanwhile, Costa Group Holdings Ltd (ASX:CGC) added 12.84% or 0.38 points to end at 3.34 and Ramelius Resources Ltd (ASX:RMS) was up 6.40% or 0.08 points to 1.33 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Nuix Ltd (ASX:NXL), which fell 3.85% or 0.04 points to trade at 0.88 at the close. Domain Holdings Australia Ltd (ASX:DHG) declined 3.66% or 0.14 points to end at 3.69 and Star Entertainment Group Ltd (ASX:SGR) was down 1.69% or 0.02 points to 1.16.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 851 to 446 and 393 ended unchanged.

Shares in Costa Group Holdings Ltd (ASX:CGC) rose to 52-week highs; up 12.84% or 0.38 to 3.34.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 6.23% to 10.59.

Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.27% or 5.15 to $1,934.65 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 0.89% or 0.62 to hit $70.41 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 0.84% or 0.63 to trade at $75.28 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.13% to 0.67, while AUD/JPY unchanged 0.00% to 96.53.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.03% at 102.68.