Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Monday, as gains in the Healthcare, Financials and IT sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.90% to hit a new 52-week high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Syrah Res F (AX:SYR), which rose 6.71% or 0.220 points to trade at 3.500 at the close. Galaxy Resources Ltd (AX:GXY) added 6.25% or 0.035 points to end at 0.595 and Cochlear Ltd (AX:COH) was up 4.51% or 5.570 points to 129.120 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (AX:FMG), which lost 3.79% or 0.230 points to trade at 5.840 in late trade. Tatts Group Ltd (AX:TTS) declined 2.60% or 0.120 points to end at 4.490 and Reliance Worldwide Corporation (Aust) Pty Ltd (AX:RWC) shed 2.48% or 0.080 points to 3.140.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 598 to 445 and 312 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 1.03% to 12.625.
In commodities trading, Gold for February delivery was up 0.11% or 1.25 to $1174.65 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in February fell 0.54% or 0.29 to hit $53.70 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract fell 0.46% or 0.26 to trade at $56.84 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.07% to 0.7309, while AUD/JPY rose 0.48% to 85.86.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.17% at 102.34.