Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Telecoms Services, Utilities and Consumer Discretionary sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.29% to hit a new 6-month high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Super Retail Group Ltd (AX:SUL), which rose 4.81% or 0.350 points to trade at 7.620 at the close. Costa Group Holdings Ltd (AX:CGC) added 4.63% or 0.240 points to end at 5.420 and Elders Ltd (AX:ELD) was up 3.34% or 0.210 points to 6.490 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Rio Tinto Ltd (AX:RIO), which lost 4.76% or 4.600 points to trade at 92.050 in late trade. Syrah Resources Ltd (AX:SYR) declined 4.28% or 0.055 points to end at 1.230 and Speedcast International Ltd (AX:SDA) shed 3.05% or 0.120 points to 3.820.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 575 to 553 and 355 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 2.16% to 11.933.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.23% or 2.95 to $1284.65 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in April rose 0.14% or 0.08 to hit $56.30 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract rose 0.30% or 0.20 to trade at $66.19 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.21% to 0.7046, while AUD/JPY rose 0.16% to 78.70.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.02% at 96.822.