Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.34%

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

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.34% to hit a new 6-months high.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Mesoblast Ltd (ASX:MSB), which rose 17.58% or 0.640 points to trade at 4.280 at the close. Meanwhile, Lynas Corporation Ltd (ASX:LYC) added 5.92% or 0.200 points to end at 3.580 and TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX:TPG) was up 4.81% or 0.370 points to 8.070 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Insurance Australia Group Ltd (ASX:IAG), which fell 6.04% or 0.330 points to trade at 5.130 at the close. Avita Therapeutics Inc (ASX:AVH) declined 3.69% or 0.230 points to end at 6.000 and Downer Edi Ltd (ASX:DOW) was down 2.64% or 0.140 points to 5.170.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 713 to 548 and 352 ended unchanged.

Shares in Lynas Corporation Ltd (ASX:LYC) rose to 5-year highs; gaining 5.92% or 0.200 to 3.580.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 15.10% to 14.240 a new 6-months low.

Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.03% or 0.60 to $1873.00 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 1.39% or 0.59 to hit $43.01 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 1.53% or 0.69 to trade at $45.76 a barrel.

AUD/USD was up 0.11% to 0.7310, while AUD/JPY rose 0.11% to 75.89.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.14% at 92.267.