Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Telecoms Services, Energy and Gold sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.30% to hit a new 5-year high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Greencross Ltd (AX:GXL), which rose 4.83% or 0.290 points to trade at 6.290 at the close. Speedcast International Ltd (AX:SDA) added 4.00% or 0.210 points to end at 5.460 and Breville Group Ltd (AX:BRG) was up 3.68% or 0.460 points to 12.950 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Retail Food Group Ltd (AX:RFG), which lost 5.58% or 0.140 points to trade at 2.370 in late trade. APA Group (AX:APA) declined 2.88% or 0.250 points to end at 8.420 and Eclipx Group Ltd (AX:ECX) shed 2.84% or 0.120 points to 4.110.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 722 to 441 and 329 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 4.04% to 10.244.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.26% or 3.40 to $1294.80 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 0.22% or 0.13 to hit $59.77 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract rose 0.20% or 0.13 to trade at $66.12 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.36% to 0.7794, while AUD/JPY rose 0.10% to 88.00.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.17% at 92.50.