Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Monday, as gains in the Consumer Discretionary , Financials and Utilities sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.07%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX: MIN ), which rose 6.99% or 1.59 points to trade at 24.35 at the close. Meanwhile, Pro Medicus Ltd (ASX: PME ) added 3.22% or 7.20 points to end at 230.78 and Omni Bridgeway Ltd (ASX: OBL ) was up 3.01% or 0.04 points to 1.37 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were James Hardie Industries PLC (ASX: JHX ), which fell 14.65% or 6.86 points to trade at 39.95 at the close. Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX: CUV ) declined 5.04% or 0.60 points to end at 11.30 and St Barbara Ltd (ASX: SBM ) was down 4.35% or 0.01 points to 0.22.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 629 to 424 and 362 ended unchanged.
Shares in James Hardie Industries PLC (ASX: JHX ) fell to 52-week lows; losing 14.65% or 6.86 to 39.95.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX , which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 2.06% to 12.34.
Gold Futures for June delivery was up 0.19% or 5.65 to $3,054.05 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in May fell 0.25% or 0.17 to hit $68.11 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract fell 0.29% or 0.21 to trade at $71.40 a barrel.
AUD/USD was unchanged 0.14% to 0.63, while AUD/JPY rose 0.46% to 94.03.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.03% at 103.78.