Australia stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Gold, Energy and Consumer Discretionary sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.06%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were G8 Education Ltd (AX:GEM), which rose 11.62% or 0.280 points to trade at 2.690 at the close. Meanwhile, Appen Ltd (AX:APX) added 11.55% or 1.290 points to end at 12.460 and Elders Ltd (AX:ELD) was up 5.53% or 0.390 points to 7.440 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Syrah Resources Ltd (AX:SYR), which fell 5.31% or 0.095 points to trade at 1.695 at the close. Aveo Group (AX:AOG) declined 4.41% or 0.075 points to end at 1.625 and Incitec Pivot Ltd (AX:IPL) was down 4.19% or 0.170 points to 3.890.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 618 to 530 and 345 ended unchanged.
Shares in Aveo Group (AX:AOG) fell to 5-year lows; down 4.41% or 0.075 to 1.625.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 0.76% to 17.376.
Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.15% or 1.80 to $1211.90 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in December fell 0.30% or 0.17 to hit $56.08 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract fell 0.14% or 0.09 to trade at $66.03 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.58% to 0.7273, while AUD/JPY rose 0.47% to 82.56.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.13% at 96.73.
