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

Jul 27, 2022 03:45AM ET

By: AnalysisWatch

Australia stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Gold, Healthcare and Financials sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.23% to hit a new 1-month high.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Zip Co Ltd (ASX:ZIP), which rose 20.98% or 0.22 points to trade at 1.24 at the close. Meanwhile, Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX:CUV) added 8.03% or 1.26 points to end at 16.96 and Silver Lake Resources Ltd (ASX:SLR) was up 6.02% or 0.08 points to 1.41 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Champion Iron Ltd (ASX:CIA), which fell 4.54% or 0.23 points to trade at 4.84 at the close. Iluka Resources Ltd (ASX:ILU) declined 4.32% or 0.42 points to end at 9.30 and Bluescope Steel Ltd (ASX:BSL) was down 3.83% or 0.63 points to 15.84.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 708 to 628 and 368 ended unchanged.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 1.46% to 16.01.

Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.09% or 1.55 to $1,716.15 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in September rose 0.91% or 0.86 to hit $95.84 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract rose 0.63% or 0.63 to trade at $100.09 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.14% to 0.69, while AUD/JPY fell 0.05% to 94.94.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.08% at 106.96.