Australia stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Gold, Metals&Mining and Telecoms Services sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.75%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Galaxy Resources Ltd (ASX:GXY), which rose 10.92% or 0.125 points to trade at 1.270 at the close. Meanwhile, Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS) added 8.24% or 0.035 points to end at 0.460 and Western Areas Ltd (ASX:WSA) was up 8.11% or 0.180 points to 2.400 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Insurance Australia Group Ltd (ASX:IAG), which fell 5.07% or 0.410 points to trade at 7.670 at the close. AGL Energy Ltd (ASX:AGL) declined 4.60% or 0.920 points to end at 19.080 and A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX:A2M) was down 3.48% or 0.550 points to 15.250.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 734 to 438 and 385 ended unchanged.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 2.37% to 16.329.
Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.66% or 10.00 to $1509.60 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in September rose 3.27% or 1.67 to hit $52.76 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract rose 2.92% or 1.64 to trade at $57.87 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.22% to 0.6770, while AUD/JPY rose 0.13% to 71.87.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.05% at 97.398.
