Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Gold, IT and Metals & Mining sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.39%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Resolute Mining Ltd (ASX:RSG), which rose 9.75% or 0.135 points to trade at 1.520 at the close. Cooper Energy Ltd (ASX:COE) added 8.74% or 0.045 points to end at 0.560 and Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX:WHC) was up 4.93% or 0.180 points to 3.830 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Sims Metal Management Ltd (ASX:SGM), which lost 3.86% or 0.410 points to trade at 10.220 in late trade. Platinum Asset Management Ltd (ASX:PTM) declined 3.40% or 0.170 points to end at 4.830 and Emeco Holdings Ltd (ASX:EHL) shed 3.33% or 0.070 points to 2.030.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 721 to 468 and 345 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 2.19% to 11.255.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.72% or 10.20 to $1422.70 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 0.55% or 0.33 to hit $60.76 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 0.52% or 0.35 to trade at $67.36 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.22% to 0.6973, while AUD/JPY fell 0.22% to 75.30.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.16% at 96.553.