Australia’s stock market saw notable gains at the close of trading on Friday, with the Metals & Mining, Materials, and IT sectors leading the charge higher. At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 surged by 0.61%, reaching a new all-time high.
The top performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 included Platinum Asset Management Ltd (ASX:PTM), which soared by 16.75%, or 0.17 points, closing at 1.20. Additionally, Nickel Mines Ltd (ASX:NIC) added 7.09%, or 0.05 points, finishing at 0.76, while Xero Ltd (ASX:XRO) surged by 5.98%, or 7.61 points, ending the day at 134.92.
Conversely, the worst performers of the session included Collins Foods Ltd (ASX:CKF), which dropped by 7.82%, or 0.86 points, closing at 10.14. Nextdc Ltd (ASX:NXT) declined by 5.21%, or 0.92 points, to 16.73, and Nuix Ltd (ASX:NXL) fell by 5.19%, or 0.11 points, to 2.01.
On the Sydney Stock Exchange, rising stocks outnumbered declining ones by 604 to 548, with 342 ending unchanged.
Xero Ltd (ASX:XRO) reached a 52-week high, climbing by 5.98% to 134.92.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, measuring the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, rose by 0.94% to 11.05.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery dipped by 0.10%, or 2.00, to $2,052.70 per troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in April rose by 0.28%, or 0.22, to $78.48 per barrel, and the May Brent oil contract increased by 0.34%, or 0.28, to trade at $82.19 per barrel.
The AUD/USD pair remained unchanged at 0.65%, while AUD/JPY rose by 0.47% to 97.91.
The US Dollar Index Futures saw a slight decline of 0.02%, reaching 104.07.