Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 1.74% By Investing.com

Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Monday, as gains in the , and sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Sydney, the added 1.74%.

The best performers of the session on the were Austal Ltd (ASX:), which rose 8.44% or 0.20 points to trade at 2.57 at the close. Meanwhile, Reece Ltd (ASX:) added 7.04% or 1.14 points to end at 17.34 and Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX:) was up 6.51% or 1.46 points to 23.87 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:), which fell 5.93% or 1.430 points to trade at 22.680 at the close. Ramelius Resources Ltd (ASX:) declined 3.53% or 0.045 points to end at 1.230 and Silver Lake Resources Ltd (ASX:) was down 3.45% or 0.050 points to 1.400.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 722 to 673 and 318 ended unchanged.

Shares in Reece Ltd (ASX:) rose to 3-years highs; up 7.04% or 1.14 to 17.34.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 8.92% to 16.064.

Gold Futures for April delivery was up 1.55% or 26.80 to $1755.60 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in April rose 1.79% or 1.10 to hit $62.60 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract rose 1.82% or 1.17 to trade at $65.59 a barrel.

AUD/USD was up 0.77% to 0.7764, while AUD/JPY rose 0.68% to 82.73.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.10% at 90.793.