Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.53%

Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Monday, as gains in the A-REITs, Energy and Healthcare sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.53%.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Appen Ltd (ASX:APX), which rose 11.61% or 0.07 points to trade at 0.62 at the close. Meanwhile, Goodman Group (ASX:GMG) added 3.93% or 1.26 points to end at 33.31 and Elders Ltd (ASX:ELD) was up 3.68% or 0.32 points to 9.01 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were St Barbara Ltd (ASX:SBM), which fell 7.14% or 0.01 points to trade at 0.16 at the close. ALS Ltd (ASX:ALQ) declined 4.66% or 0.64 points to end at 13.09 and NRW Holdings Ltd (ASX:NWH) was down 3.41% or 0.10 points to 2.83.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 599 to 561 and 381 ended unchanged.

Shares in Goodman Group (ASX:GMG) rose to 5-year highs; gaining 3.93% or 1.26 to 33.31.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 1.69% to 11.07.

Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.43% or 9.35 to $2,169.35 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in May rose 0.64% or 0.52 to hit $81.15 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract rose 0.60% or 0.51 to trade at $85.34 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.18% to 0.65, while AUD/JPY rose 0.09% to 98.75.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.11% at 104.06.