CANBERRA: Australia stocks were higher after the close on Tuesday, as gains in the Gold, Industrials and Utilities sectors led shares higher. At the close in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.11%. The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Bellamys Australia Ltd (AX:BAL), which rose 7.39% or 0.340 points to trade at 4.940 at the close. Meanwhile, Saracen Mineral Holdings Ltd (AX:SAR) added 6.75% or 0.080 points to end at 1.265 and Transurban Group (AX:TCL) was up 6.07% or 0.630 points to 11.010 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Tabcorp Holdings Ltd (AX:TAH), which fell 4.28% or 0.190 points to trade at 4.250 at the close. Orocobre Ltd (AX:ORE) declined 3.21% or 0.130 points to end at 3.920 and Eclipx Group Ltd (AX:ECX) was down 2.80% or 0.105 points to 3.645. Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Australia Stock Exchange by 590 to 506 and 331 ended unchanged. The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 0.53% to 12.863.
Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.23% or 2.85 to $1234.95 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 0.21% or 0.11 to hit $53.12 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract rose 0.23% or 0.13 to trade at $55.85 a barrel. AUD/USD was up 0.14% to 0.7670, while AUD/JPY rose 0.26% to 85.81. The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.29% at 100.13.
