Australia shares higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.52%

Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Tuesday, as gains in the Gold , Utilities and Consumer Discretionary sectors propelled shares higher.

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.52% to hit a new 52-week high.

The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Regis Resources Ltd (AX: RRL ), which rose 7.26% or 0.170 points to trade at 2.510 at the close. Seven West Media Ltd (AX: SWM ) added 5.33% or 0.040 points to end at 0.790 and Bapcor Ltd (AX: BAP ) was up 4.55% or 0.250 points to 5.740 in late trade.

Biggest losers included Bega Cheese Ltd (AX: BGA ), which lost 6.97% or 0.290 points to trade at 3.870 in late trade. Syrah Res F (AX: SYR ) declined 6.03% or 0.190 points to end at 2.960 and BT Investment Management Ltd (AX: BTT ) shed 5.14% or 0.570 points to 10.530.

Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 526 to 487 and 326 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 2.16% to 11.006 a new 52-week low.

In commodities trading, Gold for February delivery was down 0.42% or 4.85 to $1137.85 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in February fell 0.34% or 0.18 to hit $52.88 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract fell 0.27% or 0.15 to trade at $54.77 a barrel.

AUD/USD was up 0.11% to 0.7255, while AUD/JPY rose 0.55% to 85.34.

The US Dollar Index was up 0.09% at 103.16.