Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Monday, as gains in the Telecoms Services, Real Estate Investment and Healthcare sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.13% to hit a new 5-year high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Vocus Group Ltd (AX:VOC), which rose 3.82% or 0.120 points to trade at 3.260 at the close. Monadelphous Group Ltd (AX:MND) added 3.43% or 0.610 points to end at 18.410 and Qantas Airways Ltd (AX:QAN) was up 2.97% or 0.14 points to 5.04 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Syrah Resources Ltd (AX:SYR), which lost 2.69% or 0.130 points to trade at 4.700 in late trade. Australian Pharma Industries Ltd (AX:API) declined 2.67% or 0.045 points to end at 1.640 and Lynas Corporation Ltd (AX:LYC) shed 2.58% or 0.060 points to 2.270.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 629 to 570 and 349 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 4.45% to 9.826.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery was down 0.15% or 2.00 to $1320.30 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 0.20% or 0.12 to hit $61.56 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract rose 0.15% or 0.10 to trade at $67.72 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.28% to 0.7842, while AUD/JPY fell 0.14% to 88.79.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.09% at 91.83.