Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Monday, as gains in the Healthcare, Energy and Financials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.35%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Alumina Ltd (AX:AWC), which rose 6.82% or 0.105 points to trade at 1.645 at the close. M Pharma Fp (AX:MYX) added 6.60% or 0.095 points to end at 1.535 and Sonic Healthcare Ltd (AX:SHL) was up 6.41% or 1.300 points to 21.580 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Evolution Mining Ltd (AX:EVN), which lost 6.94% or 0.170 points to trade at 2.280 in late trade. Saracen Mineral Holdings Ltd (AX:SAR) declined 6.82% or 0.090 points to end at 1.230 and Resolute Mining Ltd (AX:RSG) shed 5.21% or 0.085 points to 1.545.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 631 to 415 and 270 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 10.50% to 18.532.
In commodities trading, Gold for December delivery was down 1.14% or 14.85 to $1289.65 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in December rose 1.41% or 0.62 to hit $44.69 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract rose 1.21% or 0.55 to trade at $46.13 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.05% to 0.7671, while AUD/JPY rose 1.33% to 80.17.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.70% at 97.62.