Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.85%

Category: Stock Market

Australia stocks were higher after the close on Tuesday, as gains in the Gold, Metals&Mining and Resources sectors led shares higher.At the close in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.85%.The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Mesoblast Ltd (AX:MSB), which rose 14.58% or 0.280 points to trade at 2.200 at the close. Meanwhile, Whitehaven Coal Ltd (AX:WHC) added 10.00% or 0.055 points to end at 0.605 and Beach Energy Ltd (AX:BPT) was up 8.49% or 0.045 points to 0.575 in late trade.The worst performers of the session were Slater&Gordon Ltd (AX:SGH), which fell 45.69% or 0.265 points to trade at 0.315 at the close. Bendigo And Adelaide Bank Ltd (AX:BEN) declined 5.96% or 0.510 points to end at 8.050 and Telstra Corporation Ltd. (AX:TLS) was down 4.76% or 0.250 points to 5.000.Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Australia Stock Exchange by 501 to 458 and 257 ended unchanged.Shares in Slater&Gordon Ltd (AX:SGH) fell to all time lows; losing 45.69% or 0.265 to 0.315. Shares in Bendigo And Adelaide Bank Ltd (AX:BEN) fell to 3-years lows; losing 5.96% or 0.510 to 8.050. Shares in Telstra Corporation Ltd. (AX:TLS) fell to 52-week lows; losing 4.76% or 0.250 to 5.000.The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 3.99% to 21.290.Gold for April delivery was up 0.92% or 11.30 to $1245.70 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in April rose 1.16% or 0.39 to hit $34.14 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract rose 1.01% or 0.37 to trade at $36.94 a barrel.AUD/USD was up 0.25% to 0.7160, while AUD/JPY rose 0.35% to 80.75.The US Dollar Index was down 0.06% at 98.22.