Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Gold, Metals & Mining and Materials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.24%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Block Inc (ASX:XYZ), which rose 10.89% or 9.64 points to trade at 98.15 at the close. Meanwhile, Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX:LTR) added 9.56% or 0.14 points to end at 1.61 and Iluka Resources Ltd (ASX:ILU) was up 7.07% or 0.47 points to 7.12 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were DroneShield Ltd (ASX:DRO), which fell 5.08% or 0.10 points to trade at 1.87 at the close. GQG Partners Inc DRC (ASX:GQG) declined 5.08% or 0.08 points to end at 1.54 and Worley Ltd (ASX:WOR) was down 3.37% or 0.46 points to 13.19.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 737 to 363 and 378 ended unchanged.
Shares in Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX:LTR) rose to 52-week highs; rising 9.56% or 0.14 to 1.61.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 13.04% to 12.60.
Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.35% or 14.31 to $4,068.49 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 0.41% or 0.24 to hit $59.49 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract rose 0.38% or 0.24 to trade at $63.75 a barrel.
AUD/USD was unchanged 0.09% to 0.65, while AUD/JPY rose 0.27% to 102.10.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.06% at 100.21.








