Australia shares higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.95%

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

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.95%.

The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Alumina Ltd (AX: AWC ), which rose 8.91% or 0.123 points to trade at 1.498 at the close. Costa Group Holdings Ltd (AX: CGC ) added 7.45% or 0.210 points to end at 3.030 and Evolution Mining Ltd (AX: EVN ) was up 5.36% or 0.120 points to 2.360 in late trade.

Biggest losers included Regis Healthcare Ltd (AX: REG ), which lost 16.44% or 0.730 points to trade at 3.710 in late trade. Japara Fpo (AX: JHC ) declined 15.44% or 0.315 points to end at 1.725 and Estia Health Ltd (AX: EHE ) shed 12.70% or 0.400 points to 2.750.

Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 658 to 438 and 306 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 4.63% to 13.510.

In commodities trading, Gold for December delivery was up 0.07% or 0.95 to $1329.05 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in October rose 0.25% or 0.11 to hit $44.26 a barrel, while the November Brent oil contract fell 0.23% or 0.11 to trade at $46.72 a barrel.

AUD/USD was up 0.37% to 0.7601, while AUD/JPY fell 0.25% to 78.55.

The US Dollar Index was down 0.26% at 95.62.