Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Metals & Mining, Resources and Materials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.95%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Graincorp Ltd (ASX:GNC), which rose 5.97% or 0.460 points to trade at 8.170 at the close. Beach Energy Ltd (ASX:BPT) added 4.76% or 0.085 points to end at 1.870 and Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX:MFG) was up 4.61% or 2.020 points to 45.830 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Resolute Mining Ltd (ASX:RSG), which lost 7.73% or 0.085 points to trade at 1.015 in late trade. Syrah Resources Ltd (ASX:SYR) declined 3.64% or 0.040 points to end at 1.060 and Flight Centre Ltd (ASX:FLT) shed 3.48% or 1.530 points to 42.470.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 656 to 476 and 420 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 6.39% to 13.360.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.60% or 8.05 to $1334.65 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in July rose 1.29% or 0.68 to hit $53.27 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract rose 1.33% or 0.82 to trade at $62.49 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.04% to 0.6973, while AUD/JPY rose 0.02% to 75.64.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.06% at 97.053.