Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.23%

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

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.23% to hit a new all time high.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Lend Lease Group (ASX:LLC), which rose 6.67% or 0.37 points to trade at 5.92 at the close. Meanwhile, Rea Group Ltd (ASX:REA) added 4.45% or 11.14 points to end at 261.42 and Idp Education Ltd (ASX:IEL) was up 3.94% or 0.18 points to 4.75 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were St Barbara Ltd (ASX:SBM), which fell 4.23% or 0.02 points to trade at 0.34 at the close. Cochlear Ltd (ASX:COH) declined 4.10% or 12.67 points to end at 296.36 and Kogan.com Ltd (ASX:KGN) was down 2.50% or 0.10 points to 3.90.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 561 to 553 and 490 ended unchanged.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 0.30% to 10.82.

Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.33% or 11.02 to $3,393.62 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in October rose 0.69% or 0.43 to hit $62.41 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract rose 0.55% or 0.36 to trade at $66.21 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.12% to 0.65, while AUD/JPY rose 0.28% to 96.05.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.06% at 97.77.