Title: Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.08%

Mar 28, 2022 03:45AM ET

By: AnalysisWatch

Australian shares rose after the close on Monday as gains in the metals and mining, materials, and resources sectors led stocks higher.

At the close in Sydney, the S & P/ASX 200 was up 0.08%, hitting a new 1-month high.

Among the best performers on the S&P/ASX 200 were Washington H. Soul Pattinson & Co. Ltd., which gained 3.12% or 0.86 points to close at 28.45. Meanwhile, Austal Ltd gained 2.78%, or 0.05 points, to end at 1.85 and Unibail Rodamco Westfield was up 2.68%, or 0.12 points, at 4.60 in late trade.

The session's worst performers were Xero Ltd, which fell 5.16%, or 5.39 points, to trade at 99.03 at the close. Polynovo Ltd fell 4.50% or 0.05 points to close at 1.06 and Gold Road Resources Ltd fell 4.42% or 0.08 points to close at 1.62.

On the Sydney Stock Exchange, falling stocks outweighed rising ones by 876 to 575, and 360 ended unchanged.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, increased 0.39% to 13.52.

Gold futures for April delivery fell 1.04%, or 20.40, to $1,933.80 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodity trading, crude oil for May delivery fell 3.97%, or 4.52, to $109.38 a barrel, while the June contract for Brent crude fell 3.54%, or 4.16, to $113.21 a barrel.

The AUD/USD rate was unchanged at 0.75, while the AUD/JPY rate rose 1.63% to 93.18.

Futures on the US dollar index rose 0.41% to 99.23.