Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.84%

Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Gold, IT and Consumer Discretionary sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.84%.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Appen Ltd (ASX:APX), which rose 14.55% or 0.31 points to trade at 2.44 at the close. Meanwhile, Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX:PBH) added 5.99% or 0.05 points to end at 0.89 and Zip Co Ltd (ASX:ZIP) was up 4.50% or 0.14 points to 3.25 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Worley Ltd (ASX:WOR), which fell 4.15% or 0.63 points to trade at 14.55 at the close. Domain Holdings Australia Ltd (ASX:DHG) declined 3.25% or 0.09 points to end at 2.68 and Bluescope Steel Ltd (ASX:BSL) was down 2.92% or 0.67 points to 22.26.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 683 to 410 and 483 ended unchanged.

Shares in Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 14.55% or 0.31 to 2.44. Shares in Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX:PBH) rose to 52-week highs; rising 5.99% or 0.05 to 0.89. Shares in Domain Holdings Australia Ltd (ASX:DHG) fell to 52-week lows; losing 3.25% or 0.09 to 2.68. Shares in Zip Co Ltd (ASX:ZIP) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 4.50% or 0.14 to 3.25.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 46.96% to 11.18.

Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.11% or 2.85 to $2,702.95 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in December fell 0.58% or 0.42 to hit $71.94 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract fell 0.44% or 0.33 to trade at $75.30 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.39% to 0.67, while AUD/JPY fell 0.45% to 101.69.

The US Dollar Index Futures was unchanged 0.00% at 104.37.