Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Monday, as gains in the Metals & Mining, Resources and Materials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.04% to hit a new 1-month high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (AX:FMG), which rose 23.69% or 0.590 points to trade at 3.080 at the close. Ten Network Holdings Ltd (AX:TEN) added 10.95% or 0.110 points to end at 1.115 and Worleyparsons Ltd (AX:WOR) was up 10.64% or 0.630 points to 6.550 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Australian Pharma Industries Ltd (AX:API), which lost 4.95% or 0.090 points to trade at 1.730 in late trade. Sigma Pharmaceuticals Ltd (AX:SIP) declined 3.89% or 0.035 points to end at 0.865 and Technology One Ltd (AX:TNE) shed 3.75% or 0.170 points to 4.360.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 548 to 378 and 309 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 1.76% to 17.741 a new 1-month low.
In commodities trading, Gold for April delivery was down 0.59% or 7.50 to $1263.20 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in April rose 1.84% or 0.66 to hit $36.58 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract rose 1.58% or 0.61 to trade at $39.33 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.43% to 0.7406, while AUD/JPY fell 0.50% to 84.21.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.12% at 97.37.