Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Real Estate Investment, IT and Consumer Discretionary sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.38% to hit a new 3-month high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Bellamys Australia Ltd (AX:BAL), which rose 8.34% or 0.680 points to trade at 8.830 at the close. Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (AX:APT) added 6.13% or 1.130 points to end at 19.570 and ARB Corporation Ltd (AX:ARB) was up 5.44% or 0.920 points to 17.840 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Automotive Group Holdings Ltd (AX:AHG), which lost 8.26% or 0.190 points to trade at 2.110 in late trade. Lynas Corporation Ltd (AX:LYC) declined 5.40% or 0.095 points to end at 1.665 and Pilbara Minerals Ltd (AX:PLS) shed 5.37% or 0.040 points to 0.705.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 589 to 543 and 367 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 4.76% to 11.347.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.25% or 3.25 to $1312.85 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in April rose 0.58% or 0.33 to hit $57.55 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract rose 0.71% or 0.47 to trade at $66.78 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.07% to 0.7089, while AUD/JPY rose 0.25% to 79.20.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.13% at 96.172.