Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Real Estate Investment, Utilities and IT sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.68% to hit a new 1-month high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Iluka Resources Ltd (AX:ILU), which rose 8.92% or 0.670 points to trade at 8.180 at the close. Sims Metal Management Ltd (AX:SGM) added 6.17% or 0.580 points to end at 9.980 and Reliance Worldwide Corporation Ltd (AX:RWC) was up 5.39% or 0.230 points to 4.500 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Resmed Inc DRC (AX:RMD), which lost 11.73% or 1.930 points to trade at 14.520 in late trade. AMP Ltd (AX:AMP) declined 7.87% or 0.200 points to end at 2.340 and Australian Pharma Industries Ltd (AX:API) shed 5.82% or 0.085 points to 1.375.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 681 to 453 and 324 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 4.21% to 11.982 a new 3-month low.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.11% or 1.35 to $1281.15 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 1.26% or 0.67 to hit $53.80 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract rose 1.10% or 0.67 to trade at $61.76 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.06% to 0.7098, while AUD/JPY rose 0.21% to 77.93.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.19% at 96.113.