By Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Monday, as gains in the A-REITs, IT and Industrials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.08%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Insignia Financial Ltd (ASX:IFL), which rose 14.69% or 0.52 points to trade at 4.06 at the close. Meanwhile, Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) added 6.14% or 0.17 points to end at 2.94 and Ramelius Resources Ltd (ASX:RMS) was up 3.32% or 0.07 points to 2.18 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Mesoblast Ltd (ASX:MSB), which fell 3.79% or 0.12 points to trade at 3.05 at the close. St Barbara Ltd (ASX:SBM) declined 4.08% or 0.01 points to end at 0.24 and Megaport Ltd (ASX:MP1) was down 3.52% or 0.26 points to 7.13.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 615 to 460 and 462 ended unchanged.
Shares in Insignia Financial Ltd (ASX:IFL) rose to 3-years highs; rising 14.69% or 0.52 to 4.06. Shares in Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) rose to 52-week highs; rising 6.14% or 0.17 to 2.94.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 2.08% to 11.02.
Gold Futures for February delivery was down 0.39% or 10.29 to $2,644.41 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in February fell 0.46% or 0.34 to hit $73.62 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract fell 0.44% or 0.34 to trade at $76.17 a barrel.
AUD/USD was unchanged 0.29% to 0.62, while AUD/JPY rose 0.60% to 98.30.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.09% at 108.70.