Australia shares higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.56%

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

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.56%.

The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Resolute Mining Ltd (AX: RSG ), which rose 8.15% or 0.095 points to trade at 1.260 at the close. Ardent Leisure Ltd (AX: ALG ) added 4.04% or 0.045 points to end at 1.160 and Saracen Mineral Holdings Ltd (AX: SAR ) was up 4.00% or 0.110 points to 2.860 in late trade.

Biggest losers included Domain Holdings Australia Ltd (AX: DHG ), which lost 7.87% or 0.240 points to trade at 2.810 in late trade. Syrah Resources Ltd (AX: SYR ) declined 5.17% or 0.070 points to end at 1.285 and Platinum Asset Management Ltd (AX: PTM ) shed 4.48% or 0.220 points to 4.690.

Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 666 to 487 and 374 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 0.89% to 11.675.

In commodities trading, Gold Futures for June delivery was up 0.37% or 4.75 to $1300.35 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in May rose 0.46% or 0.29 to hit $63.37 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract rose 0.45% or 0.32 to trade at $70.66 a barrel.

AUD/USD was down 0.15% to 0.7094, while AUD/JPY fell 0.22% to 79.05.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.11% at 96.895.