Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the IT, Consumer Staples and Financials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.46% to hit a new 6-month high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Syrah Res F (AX:SYR), which rose 4.91% or 0.260 points to trade at 5.550 at the close. Spotless Fp (AX:SPO) added 4.07% or 0.043 points to end at 1.087 and GWA Group Ltd (AX:GWA) was up 3.74% or 0.085 points to 2.355 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Qantas Airways Ltd (AX:QAN), which lost 3.53% or 0.110 points to trade at 3.010 in late trade. Myer Holdings Ltd (AX:MYR) declined 3.49% or 0.040 points to end at 1.105 and Blackmores Ltd (AX:BKL) shed 2.16% or 3.485 points to 158.015.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 548 to 442 and 337 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 3.70% to 16.155 a new 1-month low.
In commodities trading, Gold for June delivery was down 0.02% or 0.25 to $1220.15 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in July fell 0.73% or 0.36 to hit $49.12 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract fell 0.79% or 0.39 to trade at $49.20 a barrel.
AUD/USD was unchanged 0.00% to 0.7226, while AUD/JPY fell 0.03% to 79.29.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.04% at 95.18.