Australia shares higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.59%

Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Monday, as gains in the Consumer Staples , Metals & Mining and Materials sectors propelled shares higher.

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.59%.

The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Eclipx Group Ltd (AX: ECX ), which rose 16.41% or 0.105 points to trade at 0.745 at the close. Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (AX: APT ) added 6.87% or 1.440 points to end at 22.390 and Bega Cheese Ltd (AX: BGA ) was up 6.56% or 0.300 points to 4.870 in late trade.

Biggest losers included Pilbara Minerals Ltd (AX: PLS ), which lost 6.33% or 0.050 points to trade at 0.740 in late trade. Syrah Resources Ltd (AX: SYR ) declined 5.61% or 0.060 points to end at 1.010 and Regis Resources Ltd (AX: RRL ) shed 3.40% or 0.180 points to 5.120.

Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 575 to 544 and 353 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 2.93% to 11.517.

In commodities trading, Gold Futures for June delivery was down 0.25% or 3.25 to $1295.25 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in May rose 0.68% or 0.41 to hit $60.55 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract rose 0.93% or 0.63 to trade at $68.21 a barrel.

AUD/USD was up 0.41% to 0.7124, while AUD/JPY rose 0.38% to 79.15.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.13% at 96.722.