Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Metals & Mining, Resources and Materials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.96%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Mineral Resources Ltd (AX:MIN), which rose 6.57% or 0.635 points to trade at 10.295 at the close. Link Administration Holdings Ltd (AX:LNK) added 5.81% or 0.438 points to end at 7.980 and Greencross Ltd (AX:GXL) was up 4.93% or 0.290 points to 6.170 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Vicinity Centres Re Ltd (AX:VCX), which lost 3.85% or 0.105 points to trade at 2.625 in late trade. Stockland Corporation Ltd (AX:SGP) declined 3.60% or 0.170 points to end at 4.550 and Aveo Group (AX:AOG) shed 3.33% or 0.095 points to 2.755.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 746 to 427 and 415 ended unchanged on the Sydney Stock Exchange.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 8.40% to 11.855.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.34% or 4.22 to $1253.32 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 0.56% or 0.25 to hit $44.99 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 0.42% or 0.20 to trade at $47.74 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.29% to 0.7662, while AUD/JPY rose 0.20% to 85.97.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.21% at 95.58.