Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Metals & Mining, Resources and Materials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.38%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd (ASX:LNG), which rose 4.01% or 0.150 points to trade at 3.890 at the close. Meanwhile, Arrium Ltd (ASX:ARI) added 4.00% or 0.005 points to end at 0.130 and Western Areas Ltd (ASX:WSA) was up 3.29% or 0.100 points to 3.140 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were APN News & Media Ltd (ASX:APN), which fell 3.68% or 0.025 points to trade at 0.655 at the close. Cardno Ltd (ASX:CDD) declined 3.15% or 0.100 points to end at 3.070 and Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX:EVN) was down 2.90% or 0.035 points to 1.170.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Australia Stock Exchange by 522 to 393 and 157 ended unchanged.
Shares in APN News & Media Ltd (ASX:APN) fell to 52-week lows; down 3.68% or 0.025 to 0.655.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 7.58% to 21.255 a new 52-week high.
Gold for August delivery was up 0.11% or 1.30 to $1160.50 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 1.56% or 0.82 to hit $53.60 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract rose 1.42% or 0.83 to trade at $59.44 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.31% to 0.7470, while AUD/JPY rose 0.79% to 91.08.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.29% at 96.38.