Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Gold, Real Estate Investment and Consumer Staples sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.21%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were A2 Milk Company Ltd (AX:A2M), which rose 6.27% or 0.245 points to trade at 4.155 at the close. Seven Group Holdings Ltd (AX:SVW) added 6.27% or 0.715 points to end at 12.115 and St Barbara Ltd (AX:SBM) was up 5.92% or 0.155 points to 2.775 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Bluescope Steel Ltd (AX:BSL), which lost 3.80% or 0.520 points to trade at 13.180 in late trade. Independence Group NL (AX:IGO) declined 3.15% or 0.100 points to end at 3.070 and IPH Ltd (AX:IPH) shed 3.36% or 0.160 points to 4.600.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 635 to 501 and 348 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 2.88% to 12.068.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery was up 1.12% or 13.98 to $1263.38 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in September fell 0.18% or 0.09 to hit $48.66 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract fell 0.20% or 0.10 to trade at $50.87 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.52% to 0.8047, while AUD/JPY rose 0.39% to 89.35.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.05% at 93.24.