Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.23% By

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

At the close in Sydney, the gained 0.23%.

The best performers of the session on the were Crown Ltd (ASX:), which rose 16.57% or 1.640 points to trade at 11.540 at the close. Meanwhile, Altium Ltd (ASX:) added 5.16% or 2.12 points to end at 43.18 and Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX:) was up 4.07% or 0.470 points to 12.010 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Nanosonics Ltd (ASX:), which fell 4.92% or 0.30 points to trade at 5.80 at the close. ALS Ltd (ASX:) declined 3.91% or 0.51 points to end at 12.52 and Zip Co Ltd (ASX:) was down 3.55% or 0.21 points to 5.70.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 747 to 626 and 418 ended unchanged.

Shares in Altium Ltd (ASX:) rose to all time highs; up 5.16% or 2.12 to 43.18.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 3.50% to 11.708.

Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.14% or 2.55 to $1858.85 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 0.99% or 0.78 to hit $79.19 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract rose 1.03% or 0.84 to trade at $82.08 a barrel.

AUD/USD was up 0.14% to 0.7289, while AUD/JPY rose 0.26% to 83.34.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.08% at 95.618.