Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.02%

Australia stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Consumer Discretionary, Financials and Telecoms Services sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.02%.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Temple & Webster Group Ltd (ASX:TPW), which rose 32.92% or 1.34 points to trade at 5.41 at the close. Meanwhile, Nick Scali Ltd (ASX:NCK) added 4.66% or 0.56 points to end at 12.59 and Premier Investments Ltd (ASX:PMV) was up 4.56% or 0.61 points to 13.98 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Zip Co Ltd (ASX:ZIP), which fell 29.71% or 0.62 points to trade at 1.46 at the close. Capricorn Metals Ltd (ASX:CMM) declined 8.10% or 1.09 points to end at 12.36 and Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX:LTR) was down 7.61% or 0.05 points to 0.64.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 780 to 319 and 323 ended unchanged.

Shares in Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX:LTR) fell to 52-week lows; losing 7.61% or 0.05 to 0.64.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 0.42% to 11.11.

Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.86% or 34.75 to $4,025.65 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in December rose 1.27% or 1.26 to hit $100.73 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract rose 1.03% or 1.17 to trade at $114.34 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.16% to 0.70, while AUD/JPY fell 0.05% to 109.99.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.10% at 101.54.