Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.46%

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

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.46%.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Block Inc (ASX:XYZ), which rose 5.35% or 5.79 points to trade at 114.09 at the close. Meanwhile, Life360 Inc (ASX:360) added 4.27% or 0.82 points to end at 20.02 and Nine Entertainment Co Holdings Ltd (ASX:NEC) was up 4.17% or 0.04 points to 1.00 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Regis Healthcare Ltd (ASX:REG), which fell 27.16% or 1.60 points to trade at 4.29 at the close. Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX:LTR) declined 4.44% or 0.06 points to end at 1.19 and Lovisa Holdings Ltd (ASX:LOV) was down 4.12% or 0.99 points to 23.04.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 548 to 528 and 424 ended unchanged.

Shares in Regis Healthcare Ltd (ASX:REG) fell to 52-week lows; down 27.16% or 1.60 to 4.29.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 5.43% to 10.74.

Gold Futures for December delivery was up 1.20% or 53.04 to $4,467.64 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in October fell 1.13% or 1.03 to hit $89.98 a barrel, while the November Brent oil contract fell 1.31% or 1.25 to trade at $94.38 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.07% to 0.72, while AUD/JPY fell 1.05% to 112.62.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.25% at 99.31.