Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Healthcare, Metals & Mining and IT sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.68%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Lynas Corporation Ltd (AX:LYC), which rose 5.45% or 0.100 points to trade at 1.935 at the close. Speedcast International Ltd (AX:SDA) added 4.13% or 0.170 points to end at 4.290 and Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (AX:APT) was up 4.04% or 0.670 points to 17.240 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Seven West Media Ltd (AX:SWM), which lost 2.23% or 0.023 points to trade at 0.988 in late trade. Syrah Resources Ltd (AX:SYR) declined 2.12% or 0.050 points to end at 2.310 and Super Retail Group Ltd (AX:SUL) shed 2.06% or 0.180 points to 8.540.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 704 to 453 and 358 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 11.21% to 12.236.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.15% or 1.80 to $1210.00 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in October rose 0.22% or 0.15 to hit $68.74 a barrel, while the November Brent oil contract rose 0.05% or 0.04 to trade at $78.22 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.08% to 0.7201, while AUD/JPY rose 0.06% to 80.56.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.01% at 94.52.