Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Tuesday, as gains in the Energy, Resources and Metals & Mining sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.67% to hit a new 6-month high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Bluescope Steel Ltd (AX:BSL), which rose 9.11% or 0.500 points to trade at 5.990 at the close. Independence Group NL (AX:IGO) added 6.93% or 0.190 points to end at 2.930 and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (AX:FMG) was up 6.70% or 0.195 points to 3.105 in late trade.
Biggest losers included G.U.D. Holdings Ltd (AX:GUD), which lost 6.67% or 0.620 points to trade at 8.680 in late trade. Austal Ltd (AX:ASB) declined 5.03% or 0.075 points to end at 1.415 and Retail Food Group Ltd (AX:RFG) shed 3.68% or 0.210 points to 5.490.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 607 to 447 and 339 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 3.76% to 17.395.
In commodities trading, Gold for June delivery was up 0.29% or 3.75 to $1277.95 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in June rose 1.05% or 0.50 to hit $48.22 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract rose 0.59% or 0.29 to trade at $49.26 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.81% to 0.7348, while AUD/JPY rose 0.94% to 80.21.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.05% at 94.48.