Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Tuesday, as gains in the Industrials, Metals & Mining and Materials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.20%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Saracen Mineral Holdings Ltd (AX:SAR), which rose 5.70% or 0.055 points to trade at 1.020 at the close. Sims Metal Management Ltd (AX:SGM) added 2.91% or 0.340 points to end at 12.010 and St Barbara Ltd (AX:SBM) was up 2.88% or 0.080 points to 2.860 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Sirtex Medical Ltd (AX:SRX), which lost 4.33% or 0.670 points to trade at 14.820 in late trade. Orica Ltd (AX:ORI) declined 3.58% or 0.690 points to end at 18.590 and National Australia Bank Ltd (AX:NAB) shed 3.54% or 1.155 points to 31.485.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 567 to 469 and 402 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 up 0.19% to 11.867.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for June delivery was up 0.31% or 3.77 to $1233.77 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in June rose 0.37% or 0.18 to hit $49.03 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract rose 0.33% or 0.17 to trade at $51.99 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.13% to 0.7423, while AUD/JPY fell 0.12% to 84.25.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.15% at 98.66.