Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Tuesday, as gains in the Metals & Mining, Resources and Materials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.09% to hit a new 5-year high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Sims Metal Management Ltd (AX:SGM), which rose 3.38% or 0.570 points to trade at 17.420 at the close. Galaxy Resources Ltd (AX:GXY) added 3.04% or 0.130 points to end at 4.400 and Pilbara Minerals Ltd (AX:PLS) was up 2.95% or 0.035 points to 1.220 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Sigma Pharmaceuticals Ltd (AX:SIG), which lost 6.09% or 0.060 points to trade at 0.925 in late trade. Retail Food Group Ltd (AX:RFG) declined 6.07% or 0.150 points to end at 2.320 and Australian Pharma Industries Ltd (AX:API) shed 5.18% or 0.085 points to 1.555.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 674 to 551 and 403 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 3.65% to 9.467.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery was down 0.02% or 0.30 to $1320.10 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 0.71% or 0.44 to hit $62.17 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract rose 0.56% or 0.38 to trade at $68.16 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.15% to 0.7855, while AUD/JPY fell 0.26% to 88.47.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.07% at 92.02.