Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Consumer Staples, Energy and Real Estate Investment sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.39% to hit a new 52-week high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Navitas Ltd (AX:NVT), which rose 5.23% or 0.220 points to trade at 4.430 at the close. Seven West Media Ltd (AX:SWM) added 3.27% or 0.025 points to end at 0.790 and Beach Energy Ltd (AX:BPT) was up 3.18% or 0.025 points to 0.810 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Bellamys Australia Ltd (AX:BAL), which lost 8.28% or 0.370 points to trade at 4.100 in late trade. Syrah Res F (AX:SYR) declined 5.90% or 0.180 points to end at 2.870 and Fairfax Media Ltd (AX:FXJ) shed 3.65% or 0.040 points to 1.055.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 550 to 539 and 338 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 4.79% to 11.185.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.34% or 4.30 to $1249.40 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in May rose 0.36% or 0.18 to hit $49.69 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract rose 0.15% or 0.08 to trade at $52.62 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.17% to 0.7657, while AUD/JPY fell 0.02% to 85.14.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.11% at 99.89.