Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Monday, as gains in the Industrials, Utilities and Telecoms Services sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.53%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Syrah Res F (AX:SYR), which rose 6.42% or 0.190 points to trade at 3.150 at the close. Nextdc Ltd (AX:NXT) added 3.71% or 0.125 points to end at 3.495 and Downer Edi Ltd (AX:DOW) was up 3.48% or 0.210 points to 6.250 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Seven West Media Ltd (AX:SWM), which lost 9.20% or 0.075 points to trade at 0.740 in late trade. M Pharma Fp (AX:MYX) declined 6.92% or 0.090 points to end at 1.210 and Bega Cheese Ltd (AX:BGA) shed 5.03% or 0.220 points to 4.150.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 533 to 514 and 311 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 down 0.45% to 11.249 a new 52-week low.
In commodities trading, Gold for February delivery was up 0.29% or 3.25 to $1140.65 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 0.83% or 0.44 to hit $53.39 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 0.65% or 0.36 to trade at $55.57 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.19% to 0.7293, while AUD/JPY fell 0.74% to 85.52.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.26% at 102.66.