Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Tuesday, as gains in the Financials, Real Estate Investment and Healthcare sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 1.95% to hit a new 6-month high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were ANZ Banking Group (AX:ANZ), which rose 5.37% or 1.275 points to trade at 25.005 at the close. Blackmores Ltd (AX:BKL) added 5.04% or 8.180 points to end at 170.410 and Orora Fpo (AX:ORA) was up 4.96% or 0.130 points to 2.750 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Beach Energy Ltd (AX:BPT), which lost 5.16% or 0.040 points to trade at 0.735 in late trade. Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (AX:FMG) declined 3.38% or 0.115 points to end at 3.285 and Santos Ltd (AX:STO) shed 2.75% or 0.130 points to 4.590.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 591 to 434 and 318 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 4.84% to 17.181.
In commodities trading, Gold for June delivery was down 0.33% or 4.30 to $1291.50 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in June rose 0.51% or 0.23 to hit $45.01 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract rose 0.61% or 0.28 to trade at $46.11 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 1.26% to 0.7571, while AUD/JPY fell 1.72% to 80.16.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.13% at 92.41.