Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Utilities, Consumer Discretionary and Consumer Staples sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.18% to hit a new 3-month high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Vocus Group Ltd (AX:VOC), which rose 6.84% or 0.180 points to trade at 2.810 at the close. Australian Pharma Industries Ltd (AX:API) added 3.64% or 0.060 points to end at 1.710 and Tassal Group Ltd (AX:TGR) was up 3.54% or 0.140 points to 4.090 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Spark New Zealand Ltd (AX:SPK), which lost 3.23% or 0.110 points to trade at 3.300 in late trade. Orocobre Ltd (AX:ORE) declined 3.20% or 0.160 points to end at 4.840 and Ioof Holdings Ltd (AX:IFL) shed 3.05% or 0.360 points to 11.440.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 582 to 579 and 360 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 0.13% to 11.288.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.31% or 3.97 to $1286.03 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in November rose 0.41% or 0.21 to hit $51.50 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract rose 0.30% or 0.17 to trade at $57.40 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.41% to 0.7847, while AUD/JPY rose 0.14% to 88.78.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.38% at 93.35.