Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Monday, as gains in the Energy, Resources and Utilities sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.04% to hit a new 3-month high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Iluka Resources Ltd (AX:ILU), which rose 5.18% or 0.360 points to trade at 7.310 at the close. Santos Ltd (AX:STO) added 4.88% or 0.210 points to end at 4.510 and Origin Energy Ltd (AX:ORG) was up 3.97% or 0.260 points to 6.810 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Flight Centre Ltd (AX:FLT), which lost 7.88% or 2.600 points to trade at 30.390 in late trade. A2 Milk Company Ltd (AX:A2M) declined 6.49% or 0.150 points to end at 2.160 and Resolute Mining Ltd (AX:RSG) shed 5.62% or 0.070 points to 1.175.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 553 to 490 and 300 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 2.21% to 12.807.
In commodities trading, Gold for February delivery was down 0.28% or 3.25 to $1158.65 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 4.82% or 2.48 to hit $53.98 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 4.21% or 2.29 to trade at $56.62 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.08% to 0.7455, while AUD/JPY rose 0.21% to 86.10.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.01% at 101.59.