Title: Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.60%

Feb 04, 2022 02:45AM ET

By: AnalysisWatch

Australian stocks rose after the close on Friday as shares rose in the industrial, computer, and energy sectors.

At the close of trading in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 index was up 0.60%.

News Corp B and DRC were the best performers on the S&P/ASX 200 index, rising 5.73%, or 1.81 points, to trade at 33.38 points at the close of the session. Meanwhile, Pointsbet Holdings Ltd gained 5.11%, or 0.25 points, to close at 5.14 and Nuix Ltd rose 4.95%, or 0.07 points, to close at 1.49.

Seek Ltd was the worst performer during the session, falling 3.84%, or 1.13 points, to close trading at 28.31 points. ARB Corporation Ltd fell 3.61%, or 1.66 points, to close at 44.33 points, and Adbri Ltd fell 2.68%, or 0.080 points, to close at 2.910 points.

On the Sydney Stock Exchange, rising stocks outnumbered falling ones by 797 to 630, and 366 ended unchanged.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX index, which measures implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, fell 6.73% to 14,690 points.

Gold futures for April delivery rose 0.17%, or 3.15 points, to $1,807.25 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, crude oil for March delivery rose 0.56%, or 0.51, to $90.78 a barrel, while the April Brent crude oil contract rose 0.44%, or 0.40, to trade at $91.51 a barrel.

AUD/USD was down 0.34% to 0.7116, while AUD/JPY was down 0.32% to 81.82.

94.275. US dollar index futures were down 0.11% at 95.275.