Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.19%

Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the , and sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Sydney, the gained 0.19%.

The best performers of the session on the were Insurance Australia Group Ltd (ASX:), which rose 4.59% or 0.24 points to trade at 5.47 at the close. Meanwhile, Aurizon Holdings Ltd (ASX:) added 4.48% or 0.16 points to end at 3.73 and Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX:) was up 4.03% or 0.73 points to 18.86 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Resolute Mining Ltd (ASX:), which fell 7.87% or 0.04 points to trade at 0.41 at the close. Appen Ltd (ASX:) declined 7.77% or 0.22 points to end at 2.61 and Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX:) was down 6.51% or 0.50 points to 7.18.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 745 to 573 and 419 ended unchanged.

Shares in Insurance Australia Group Ltd (ASX:) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 4.59% or 0.24 to 5.47.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 9.95% to 10.43 a new 3-years low.

Gold Futures for August delivery was down 1.21% or 23.85 to $1,945.05 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in July rose 0.10% or 0.07 to hit $68.34 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract rose 0.10% or 0.07 to trade at $73.27 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.24% to 0.68, while AUD/JPY rose 1.17% to 96.31.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.32% at 102.86.