Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.66%

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

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.66%.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Nuix Ltd (ASX:NXL), which rose 24.64% or 0.17 points to trade at 0.86 at the close. Meanwhile, Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX:MIN) added 13.58% or 8.55 points to end at 71.51 and Monadelphous Group Ltd (ASX:MND) was up 6.21% or 0.81 points to 13.86 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Nine Entertainment Co Holdings Ltd (ASX:NEC), which fell 3.60% or 0.08 points to trade at 2.14 at the close. Zip Co Ltd (ASX:ZIP) declined 3.30% or 0.03 points to end at 0.88 and News Corp B DRC (ASX:NWS) was down 2.21% or 0.56 points to 24.79.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 772 to 575 and 400 ended unchanged.

Shares in Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX:MIN) rose to all time highs; gaining 13.58% or 8.55 to 71.51. Shares in Monadelphous Group Ltd (ASX:MND) rose to 52-week highs; rising 6.21% or 0.81 to 13.86.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 9.19% to 13.66.

Gold Futures for December delivery was up 1.03% or 17.65 to $1,737.85 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in October rose 0.89% or 0.74 to hit $84.28 a barrel, while the November Brent oil contract rose 1.04% or 0.93 to trade at $90.08 a barrel.

AUD/USD was up 1.57% to 0.69, while AUD/JPY rose 0.40% to 97.65.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 1.08% at 108.53.