Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Energy, Resources and Utilities sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.59%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (AX:FMG), which rose 13.82% or 0.210 points to trade at 1.730 at the close. Santos Ltd (AX:STO) added 7.48% or 0.220 points to end at 3.160 and Oil Search Ltd (AX:OSH) was up 6.56% or 0.400 points to 6.500 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Northern Star Resources Ltd (AX:NST), which lost 10.30% or 0.340 points to trade at 2.960 in late trade. Magellan Financial Group Ltd (AX:MFG) declined 7.75% or 1.910 points to end at 22.750 and Newcrest Mining Ltd (AX:NCM) shed 7.20% or 1.000 points to 12.880.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 522 to 509 and 149 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 2.23% to 20.678.
In commodities trading, Gold for February delivery was down 0.02% or 0.20 to $1115.40 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 1.91% or 0.64 to hit $33.85 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract rose 1.98% or 0.69 to trade at $35.49 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.70% to 0.7134, while AUD/JPY rose 2.26% to 86.07.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.35% at 98.97.