Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Telecoms Services, Consumer Staples and Real Estate Investment sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.54% to hit a new 52-week high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Bega Cheese Ltd (AX:BGA), which rose 5.96% or 0.240 points to trade at 4.270 at the close. Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Ltd (AX:FPH) added 4.04% or 0.320 points to end at 8.240 and TPG Telecom Ltd (AX:TPM) was up 3.69% or 0.240 points to 6.740 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Estia Health Ltd (AX:EHE), which lost 5.32% or 0.140 points to trade at 2.490 in late trade. Asaleo Care (AX:AHY) declined 4.73% or 0.070 points to end at 1.410 and Whitehaven Coal Ltd (AX:WHC) shed 2.93% or 0.080 points to 2.650.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 566 to 426 and 315 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 3.01% to 10.217 a new 52-week low.
In commodities trading, Gold for February delivery was down 0.18% or 2.05 to $1131.15 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 0.13% or 0.07 to hit $52.56 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 0.24% or 0.13 to trade at $54.59 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.06% to 0.7229, while AUD/JPY rose 0.11% to 85.06.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.04% at 103.00.