Australia Stocks Close Higher

Australia stocks were higher after the close on Friday, with gains in the Gold, IT, and Consumer Discretionary sectors leading to an overall increase in shares.

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

Best Performers

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

Worst Performers

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

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 683 to 410, with 483 remaining unchanged.

Shares in Appen Ltd and Pointsbet Holdings Ltd reached 52-week highs, gaining 14.55% and 5.99%, respectively. Conversely, shares in Domain Holdings Australia Ltd fell to 52-week lows, losing 3.25%.

Volatility and Commodities

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

Gold Futures for December delivery fell 0.11% or 2.85 to $2,702.95 a troy ounce. In commodities, Crude oil for December delivery decreased 0.58% to $71.94 a barrel, while January Brent oil dropped 0.44% to $75.30 a barrel.

The exchange rates were as follows: AUD/USD unchanged at 0.67, and AUD/JPY fell 0.45% to 101.69. The US Dollar Index Futures remained unchanged at 104.37.