Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Tuesday, as gains in the Utilities, Materials and Metals & Mining sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 1.19% to hit a new 52-week high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Aconex Ltd (AX:ACX), which rose 8.88% or 0.450 points to trade at 5.520 at the close. Syrah Res F (AX:SYR) added 7.21% or 0.220 points to end at 3.270 and Whitehaven Coal Ltd (AX:WHC) was up 6.13% or 0.160 points to 2.770 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Orocobre Ltd (AX:ORE), which lost 3.97% or 0.180 points to trade at 4.350 in late trade. Isentia Group Ltd (AX:ISD) declined 1.57% or 0.045 points to end at 2.825 and Aveo Group (AX:AOG) shed 1.49% or 0.050 points to 3.300.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 674 to 346 and 287 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 up 1.90% to 13.005.
In commodities trading, Gold for February delivery was up 0.51% or 5.85 to $1157.55 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 0.63% or 0.34 to hit $54.06 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract rose 0.62% or 0.35 to trade at $57.17 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.64% to 0.7233, while AUD/JPY rose 0.47% to 84.87.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.29% at 102.67.