Australia stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Consumer Staples, Healthcare and IT sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 1.49%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Austal Ltd (ASX:ASB), which rose 14.36% or 0.530 points to trade at 4.220 at the close. Meanwhile, Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) added 6.76% or 1.640 points to end at 25.910 and Eclipx Group Ltd (ASX:ECX) was up 6.29% or 0.095 points to 1.605 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd (ASX:HVN), which fell 5.57% or 0.260 points to trade at 4.410 at the close. Corporate Travel Managment Ltd (ASX:CTD) declined 3.87% or 0.700 points to end at 17.370 and Boral Ltd. (ASX:BLD) was down 2.95% or 0.130 points to 4.270.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 763 to 478 and 355 ended unchanged.
Shares in Austal Ltd (ASX:ASB) rose to all time highs; up 14.36% or 0.530 to 4.220. Shares in Corporate Travel Managment Ltd (ASX:CTD) fell to 52-week lows; losing 3.87% or 0.700 to 17.370.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 2.92% to 14.352.
Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.09% or 1.35 to $1538.25 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in October fell 0.78% or 0.44 to hit $56.27 a barrel, while the November Brent oil contract fell 0.43% or 0.26 to trade at $60.23 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.18% to 0.6712, while AUD/JPY fell 0.29% to 71.41.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.05% at 98.500.
