Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Monday, as gains in the Real Estate Investment, Healthcare and Financials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.11% to hit a new 1-month high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Saracen Mineral Holdings Ltd (AX:SAR), which rose 3.64% or 0.080 points to trade at 2.280 at the close. Greencross Ltd (AX:GXL) added 2.64% or 0.115 points to end at 4.475 and Pact Group Holdings Ltd (AX:PGH) was up 2.73% or 0.145 points to 5.465 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Galaxy Resources Ltd (AX:GXY), which lost 3.38% or 0.110 points to trade at 3.140 in late trade. Perpetual Ltd (AX:PPT) declined 2.59% or 1.050 points to end at 39.530 and Monadelphous Group Ltd (AX:MND) shed 2.50% or 0.360 points to 14.050.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 699 to 554 and 405 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 6.14% to 12.042.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.31% or 4.00 to $1282.50 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in August fell 1.60% or 1.04 to hit $63.81 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract fell 0.68% or 0.50 to trade at $72.94 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.11% to 0.7449, while AUD/JPY fell 0.09% to 82.28.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.06% at 94.50.