Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.61%

Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Metals&Mining, Materials and IT sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.61% 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 16.75% or 0.17 points to trade at 1.20 at the close. Meanwhile, Nickel Mines Ltd (ASX:NIC) added 7.09% or 0.05 points to end at 0.76 and Xero Ltd (ASX:XRO) was up 5.98% or 7.61 points to 134.92 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Collins Foods Ltd (ASX:CKF), which fell 7.82% or 0.86 points to trade at 10.14 at the close. Nextdc Ltd (ASX:NXT) declined 5.21% or 0.92 points to end at 16.73 and Nuix Ltd (ASX:NXL) was down 5.19% or 0.11 points to 2.01.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 604 to 548 and 342 ended unchanged.

Shares in Xero Ltd (ASX:XRO) rose to 52-week highs; up 5.98% or 7.61 to 134.92.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 0.94% to 11.05.

Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.10% or 2.00 to $2,052.70 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in April rose 0.28% or 0.22 to hit $78.48 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract rose 0.34% or 0.28 to trade at $82.19 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.19% to 0.65, while AUD/JPY rose 0.47% to 97.91.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.02% at 104.07.