Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.02%

Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Monday, as gains in the Consumer Discretionary, Telecoms Services and Healthcare sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.02%.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX:PBH), which rose 6.25% or 0.06 points to trade at 1.02 at the close. Meanwhile, Goodman Group (ASX:GMG) added 3.83% or 1.40 points to end at 37.97 and Breville Group Ltd (ASX:BRG) was up 3.02% or 1.09 points to 37.15 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Platinum Asset Management Ltd (ASX:PTM), which fell 13.88% or 0.14 points to trade at 0.90 at the close. Resolute Mining Ltd (ASX:RSG) declined 6.40% or 0.03 points to end at 0.40 and Beach Energy Ltd (ASX:BPT) was down 4.21% or 0.06 points to 1.25.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 647 to 414 and 394 ended unchanged.

Shares in Platinum Asset Management Ltd (ASX:PTM) fell to all time lows; falling 13.88% or 0.14 to 0.90. Shares in Breville Group Ltd (ASX:BRG) rose to all time highs; gaining 3.02% or 1.09 to 37.15.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 2.41% to 10.37.

Gold Futures for February delivery was down 0.02% or 0.41 to $2,659.19 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 0.51% or 0.34 to hit $67.54 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 0.45% or 0.32 to trade at $71.44 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.13% to 0.64, while AUD/JPY fell 0.21% to 95.66.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.14% at 105.88.