Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Energy, Industrials and Financials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.01%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Covermore Fpo (AX:CVO), which rose 17.55% or 0.215 points to trade at 1.440 at the close. Mcmillan Shakespeare Ltd (AX:MMS) added 8.01% or 1.010 points to end at 13.620 and Super Retail Group Ltd (AX:SUL) was up 6.93% or 0.580 points to 8.950 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Star Entertainment Group Ltd (AX:SGR), which lost 5.25% or 0.310 points to trade at 5.600 in late trade. Henderson Group PLC (AX:HGG) declined 4.48% or 0.220 points to end at 4.690 and Australian Pharma Industries Ltd (AX:API) shed 4.39% or 0.090 points to 1.960.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 518 to 512 and 320 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 1.01% to 18.390.
In commodities trading, Gold for June delivery was up 0.69% or 8.85 to $1283.25 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in June rose 2.08% or 0.91 to hit $44.69 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract rose 1.64% or 0.73 to trade at $45.35 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.58% to 0.7499, while AUD/JPY rose 0.56% to 80.25.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.08% at 93.20.