Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Tuesday, as gains in the Gold, Healthcare and Consumer Discretionary sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.84%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Isentia Group Ltd (AX:ISD), which rose 5.63% or 0.120 points to trade at 2.250 at the close. Newcrest Mining Ltd (AX:NCM) added 4.05% or 0.800 points to end at 20.560 and Altium Ltd (AX:ALU) was up 4.08% or 0.345 points to 8.805 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Sky Network Television Ltd. (AX:SKT), which lost 4.59% or 0.150 points to trade at 3.120 in late trade. Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd (AX:CCL) declined 3.74% or 0.320 points to end at 8.240 and Speedcast International Ltd (AX:SDA) shed 3.23% or 0.120 points to 3.600.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 656 to 431 and 376 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 3.63% to 12.745.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.21% or 2.59 to $1256.89 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in September rose 0.60% or 0.28 to hit $46.62 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 0.58% or 0.28 to trade at $48.88 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.18% to 0.7937, while AUD/JPY rose 0.08% to 88.11.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.12% at 93.71.