Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Healthcare, Consumer Staples and Utilities sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.86%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Mineral Resources Ltd (AX:MIN), which rose 26.59% or 3.310 points to trade at 15.760 at the close. Galaxy Resources Ltd (AX:GXY) added 9.24% or 0.230 points to end at 2.720 and Primary Health Care Ltd (AX:PRY) was up 8.44% or 0.200 points to 2.570 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Infigen Energy Ltd (AX:IFNDA), which lost 5.05% or 0.025 points to trade at 0.470 in late trade. Costa Group Holdings Ltd (AX:CGC) declined 3.80% or 0.260 points to end at 6.590 and Northern Star Resources Ltd (AX:NST) shed 2.74% or 0.230 points to 8.170.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 668 to 479 and 364 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 5.59% to 16.961.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.00% or 1227.90 to $1227.90 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 0.00% or 54.44 to hit $54.44 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract rose 0.00% or 63.17 to trade at $63.17 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.15% to 0.7252, while AUD/JPY fell 0.21% to 81.95.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.00% at 96.525.