Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Energy, Financials and Utilities sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.31% to hit a new 3-month high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were M Pharma Fp (AX:MYX), which rose 6.62% or 0.095 points to trade at 1.530 at the close. Seven West Media Ltd (AX:SWM) added 4.26% or 0.030 points to end at 0.735 and GWA Group Ltd (AX:GWA) was up 3.91% or 0.110 points to 2.920 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Sirtex Medical Ltd (AX:SRX), which lost 37.27% or 9.500 points to trade at 15.990 in late trade. Crown Ltd (AX:CWN) declined 5.07% or 0.610 points to end at 11.430 and Aconex Ltd (AX:ACX) shed 4.22% or 0.190 points to 4.310.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 576 to 462 and 330 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 up 1.89% to 12.530.
In commodities trading, Gold for February delivery was down 0.23% or 2.75 to $1169.65 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 0.73% or 0.37 to hit $51.21 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 0.37% or 0.20 to trade at $54.09 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.03% to 0.7465, while AUD/JPY rose 0.32% to 85.36.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.05% at 101.16.