Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.32%

Category: Stock Market

Australia stocks were higher after the close on Monday, as gains in the Gold, Consumer Staples and Energy sectors led shares higher.At the close in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.32%.The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Whitehaven Coal Ltd (AX:WHC), which rose 8.33% or 0.055 points to trade at 0.715 at the close. Meanwhile, News Corp B (AX:NWS) added 7.64% or 1.260 points to end at 17.760 and Cleanaway Waste Management Ltd (AX:CWY) was up 5.94% or 0.048 points to 0.848 in late trade.The worst performers of the session were Orica Ltd (AX:ORI), which fell 13.12% or 2.025 points to trade at 13.405 at the close. Sky Network Television Ltd. (AX:SKT) declined 6.73% or 0.290 points to end at 4.020 and Incitec Pivot Ltd (AX:IPL) was down 3.87% or 0.115 points to 2.855.Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Australia Stock Exchange by 590 to 460 and 314 ended unchanged.Shares in Cleanaway Waste Management Ltd (AX:CWY) rose to 52-week highs; rising 5.94% or 0.048 to 0.848.The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 2.21% to 17.840.Gold for June delivery was down 0.92% or 11.95 to $1282.05 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in June rose 1.84% or 0.82 to hit $45.48 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract rose 1.30% or 0.59 to trade at $45.96 a barrel.AUD/USD was up 0.04% to 0.7371, while AUD/JPY rose 0.42% to 79.30.The US Dollar Index was up 0.10% at 93.92.