Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Tuesday, as gains in the Real Estate Investment, Gold and Healthcare sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.60% to hit a new 5-year high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Nearmap Ltd (ASX:NEA), which rose 9.49% or 0.350 points to trade at 4.040 at the close. Emeco Holdings Ltd (ASX:EHL) added 8.82% or 0.175 points to end at 2.160 and Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX:APT) was up 4.93% or 1.000 points to 21.270 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Speedcast International Ltd (ASX:SDA), which lost 8.40% or 0.310 points to trade at 3.380 in late trade. Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS) declined 6.30% or 0.040 points to end at 0.595 and Mcmillan Shakespeare Ltd (ASX:MMS) shed 6.07% or 0.810 points to 12.540.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 619 to 576 and 433 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 1.98% to 13.229 a new 1-month low.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.50% or 6.65 to $1349.55 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in July fell 0.29% or 0.15 to hit $51.78 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract fell 0.30% or 0.18 to trade at $60.76 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.19% to 0.6839, while AUD/JPY fell 0.44% to 74.06.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.10% at 96.953.