Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Gold, IT and Utilities sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.59% to hit a new 5-year high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Resolute Mining Ltd (ASX:RSG), which rose 10.19% or 0.110 points to trade at 1.190 at the close. St Barbara Ltd (ASX:SBM) added 10.11% or 0.270 points to end at 2.940 and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX:NST) was up 8.69% or 0.930 points to 11.630 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Caltex Australia Ltd (ASX:CTX), which lost 13.27% or 3.580 points to trade at 23.400 in late trade. Viva Energy Group Ltd (ASX:VEA) declined 8.04% or 0.18 points to end at 2.06 and Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) shed 4.01% or 4.235 points to 101.475.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 622 to 617 and 401 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 1.53% to 13.029 a new 1-month low.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery was up 2.79% or 37.65 to $1386.45 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 3.34% or 1.80 to hit $55.77 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract rose 3.22% or 1.99 to trade at $63.81 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.34% to 0.6905, while AUD/JPY fell 0.11% to 74.30.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.24% at 96.347.