Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.59% By Investing.com

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

At the close in Sydney, the gained 0.59% to hit a new 6-months high.

The best performers of the session on the were Zip Co Ltd (ASX:), which rose 12.90% or 1.12 points to trade at 9.80 at the close. Meanwhile, Vocus Group Ltd (ASX:) added 12.79% or 0.56 points to end at 4.94 and Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX:) was up 7.14% or 0.350 points to 5.250 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Origin Energy Ltd (ASX:), which fell 3.53% or 0.160 points to trade at 4.370 at the close. Unibail Rodamco Westfield (ASX:) declined 3.19% or 0.16 points to end at 4.85 and Omni Bridgeway Ltd (ASX:) was down 3.15% or 0.12 points to 3.69.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 747 to 639 and 331 ended unchanged.

Shares in Zip Co Ltd (ASX:) rose to all time highs; up 12.90% or 1.12 to 9.80. Shares in Vocus Group Ltd (ASX:) rose to 3-years highs; rising 12.79% or 0.56 to 4.94.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 4.94% to 13.994.

Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.21% or 3.80 to $1816.80 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 1.07% or 0.61 to hit $57.46 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract rose 0.76% or 0.45 to trade at $60.01 a barrel.

AUD/USD was up 0.00% to 0.7678, while AUD/JPY rose 0.09% to 80.98.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.05% at 91.013.