CANBERRA: Australia stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Metals & Mining, Gold and Resources sectors led shares higher. At the close in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.20%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Resolute Mining Ltd (AX:RSG), which rose 9.67% or 0.130 points to trade at 1.475 at the close. Meanwhile, Syrah Res F (AX:SYR) added 9.40% or 0.220 points to end at 2.560 and Galaxy Resources Ltd (AX:GXY) was up 6.99% or 0.033 points to 0.497 in late trade. The worst performers of the session were Myer Holdings Ltd (AX:MYR), which fell 5.04% or 0.058 points to trade at 1.083 at the close. Sky Network Television Ltd. (AX:SKT) declined 4.12% or 0.140 points to end at 3.260 and Eclipx Group Ltd (AX:ECX) was down 3.98% or 0.160 points to 3.860.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Australia Stock Exchange by 604 to 503 and 315 ended unchanged. Shares in Sky Network Television Ltd. (AX:SKT) fell to 5-year lows; down 4.12% or 0.140 to 3.260. The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 6.20% to 9.024.
Gold Futures for April delivery was up 2.01% or 24.15 to $1224.85 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in April rose 0.57% or 0.28 to hit $49.14 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract rose 0.64% or 0.33 to trade at $52.14 a barrel. AUD/USD was down 0.30% to 0.7687, while AUD/JPY fell 0.35% to 87.10. The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.05% at 100.41.
