Australia stocks were higher after the close on Tuesday, as gains in the Energy, Consumer Discretionary and Utilities sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.95% to hit a new 6-months high.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Eclipx Group Ltd (AX:ECX), which rose 6.56% or 0.060 points to trade at 0.975 at the close. Meanwhile, Appen Ltd (AX:APX) added 5.31% or 1.260 points to end at 25.000 and Seven West Media Ltd (AX:SWM) was up 4.55% or 0.025 points to 0.575 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Galaxy Resources Ltd (AX:GXY), which fell 3.98% or 0.065 points to trade at 1.570 at the close. Hub24 Ltd (AX:HUB) declined 3.16% or 0.460 points to end at 14.100 and Orocobre Ltd (AX:ORE) was down 2.67% or 0.090 points to 3.280.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 659 to 483 and 401 ended unchanged.
Shares in Galaxy Resources Ltd (AX:GXY) fell to 52-week lows; falling 3.98% or 0.065 to 1.570.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 5.64% to 11.530.
Gold Futures for June delivery was down 0.23% or 2.95 to $1274.65 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in June rose 0.85% or 0.56 to hit $66.11 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract rose 0.70% or 0.52 to trade at $74.56 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.22% to 0.7117, while AUD/JPY fell 0.26% to 79.62.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.11% at 97.058.
