Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.17%

Australia stocks were higher after the close on Monday, as gains in the Gold, Metals & Mining and Materials sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.17%.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Zip Co Ltd (ASX:ZIP), which rose 13.01% or 0.19 points to trade at 1.65 at the close. Meanwhile, Pls Group Ltd (ASX:PLS) added 8.78% or 0.23 points to end at 2.85 and AP Eagers Ltd (ASX:APE) was up 7.42% or 1.38 points to 19.97 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Tuas Ltd (ASX:TUA), which fell 31.32% or 0.57 points to trade at 1.25 at the close. Temple & Webster Group Ltd (ASX:TPW) declined 7.37% or 0.40 points to end at 5.03 and Neuren Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX:NEU) was down 4.24% or 0.83 points to 18.75.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 525 to 500 and 358 ended unchanged.

Shares in Tuas Ltd (ASX:TUA) fell to 3-years lows; losing 31.32% or 0.57 to 1.25.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 0.97% to 11.21.

Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.48% or 19.35 to $4,027.25 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in December fell 1.91% or 1.97 to hit $101.30 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract fell 1.61% or 1.80 to trade at $109.90 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.06% to 0.70, while AUD/JPY rose 0.04% to 110.39.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.14% at 101.51.