Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Real Estate Investment, Healthcare and Energy sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.50% to hit a new 5-year high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Eclipx Group Ltd (ASX:ECX), which rose 20.62% or 0.265 points to trade at 1.550 at the close. oOh!Media Ltd (ASX:OML) added 8.95% or 0.350 points to end at 4.260 and Lynas Corporation Ltd (ASX:LYC) was up 4.91% or 0.130 points to 2.780 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Speedcast International Ltd (ASX:SDA), which lost 4.76% or 0.090 points to trade at 1.800 in late trade. Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) declined 4.46% or 0.410 points to end at 8.790 and Cooper Energy Ltd (ASX:COE) shed 2.73% or 0.015 points to 0.535.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 711 to 472 and 346 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 2.50% to 10.275 a new 6-month low.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.34% or 4.85 to $1416.05 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in August fell 1.19% or 0.68 to hit $56.66 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract fell 0.13% or 0.08 to trade at $63.22 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.06% to 0.7015, while AUD/JPY rose 0.09% to 75.73.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.09% at 96.415.