Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.86%

Following the close of trading on Tuesday, the Australian stock market experienced an upturn, driven by notable gains in the Energy, A-REITs, and Financials sectors. The S&P/ASX 200 index closed at a new 1-month high, reflecting a 0.86% increase.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX:MFG), which rose 5.84% or 0.50 points to trade at 9.06 at the close. Meanwhile, Credit Corp Group Ltd (ASX:CCP) added 3.83% or 0.74 points to end at 20.06 and AUB Group Ltd (ASX:AUB) was up 3.49% or 0.96 points to 28.45 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Premier Investments Ltd (ASX:PMV), which fell 4.06% or 0.89 points to trade at 21.03 at the close. Atlas Arteria (ASX:ALX) declined 3.58% or 0.23 points to end at 6.19 and Omni Bridgeway Ltd (ASX:OBL) was down 3.31% or 0.09 points to 2.63.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 724 to 627 and 418 ended unchanged.

Shares in AUB Group Ltd (ASX:AUB) rose to all time highs; rising 3.49% or 0.96 to 28.45.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 0.55% to 12.05.

Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.22% or 4.35 to $1,966.85 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August fell 0.49% or 0.35 to hit $71.58 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract rose 0.30% or 0.23 to trade at $76.32 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.64% to 0.68, while AUD/JPY fell 0.87% to 96.42.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.12% at 101.96.