CANBERRA: Australia stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Telecoms Services, Utilities and Consumer Staples sectors led shares higher. At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.34% to hit a new 3-months high. The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Galaxy Resources Ltd (AX:GXY), which rose 5.10% or 0.160 points to trade at 3.300 at the close. Meanwhile, HT&E Ltd (AX:HT1) added 4.18% or 0.075 points to end at 1.870 and Bega Cheese Ltd (AX:BGA) was up 4.05% or 0.280 points to 7.200 in late trade. The worst performers of the session were IPH Ltd (AX:IPH), which fell 2.68% or 0.150 points to trade at 5.450 at the close. ALS Ltd (AX:ALQ) declined 2.36% or 0.200 points to end at 8.270 and Independence Group NL (AX:IGO) was down 2.31% or 0.090 points to 3.800.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 661 to 487 and 375 ended unchanged. The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 2.12% to 10.969. Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.13% or 1.75 to $1298.25 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in November rose 0.69% or 0.35 to hit $50.95 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract rose 0.59% or 0.33 to trade at $56.58 a barrel. AUD/USD was up 0.17% to 0.7833, while AUD/JPY rose 0.02% to 87.83. The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.11% at 92.84.
