Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Monday, as gains in the Consumer Staples, Healthcare and Consumer Discretionary sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.62% to hit a new 6-month high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Woolworths Ltd (AX:WOW), which rose 7.66% or 1.720 points to trade at 24.170 at the close. Corp Trav F (AX:CTD) added 5.35% or 0.780 points to end at 15.360 and Metcash Ltd (AX:MTS) was up 4.90% or 0.100 points to 2.140 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Isentia Group Ltd (AX:ISD), which lost 4.66% or 0.160 points to trade at 3.270 in late trade. Regis Resources Ltd (AX:RRL) declined 4.53% or 0.170 points to end at 3.580 and Ozforex Grp (AX:OFX) shed 4.44% or 0.110 points to 2.370.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 622 to 467 and 310 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 up 0.90% to 15.332.
In commodities trading, Gold for December delivery was down 0.41% or 5.50 to $1326.00 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in September fell 0.23% or 0.10 to hit $44.09 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract fell 0.24% or 0.11 to trade at $45.98 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.24% to 0.7483, while AUD/JPY rose 0.27% to 79.43.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.01% at 97.40.