Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Telecoms Services, Metals & Mining and Financials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.74% to hit a new 5-year high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Reliance Worldwide Corporation (Aust) Pty Ltd (AX:RWC), which rose 4.47% or 0.180 points to trade at 4.210 at the close. Galaxy Resources Ltd (AX:GXY) added 3.85% or 0.155 points to end at 4.185 and Western Areas Ltd (AX:WSA) was up 3.57% or 0.120 points to 3.480 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Bega Cheese Ltd (AX:BGA), which lost 2.56% or 0.185 points to trade at 7.035 in late trade. Lynas Corporation Ltd (AX:LYC) declined 2.33% or 0.055 points to end at 2.305 and Wisetech Global Ltd (AX:WTC) shed 2.14% or 0.310 points to 14.150.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 772 to 490 and 341 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 9.36% to 9.407 a new 6-month low.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.08% or 1.00 to $1322.60 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 0.02% or 0.01 to hit $62.02 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract fell 0.01% or 0.01 to trade at $68.06 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.11% to 0.7855, while AUD/JPY rose 0.05% to 88.72.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.02% at 91.58.