After the close of trading on Friday, Australia’s stock market experienced a slight gain, led by increases in the Healthcare, IT, and Consumer Discretionary sectors. The S&P/ASX 200 index rose by 0.07% at the close in Sydney. Zip Co Ltd (ASX:ZIP) was the top performer during the session, with an increase of 8.00% or 0.04 points to close at 0.54.
Additionally, Graincorp Ltd (ASX:GNC) rose 5.89% or 0.46 points to 8.27, and News Corp B DRC (ASX:NWS) was up 4.68% or 1.16 points to 25.96 in late trade. Meanwhile, St Barbara Ltd (ASX:SBM) was the worst performer during the session, with a decline of 6.67% or 0.05 points to trade at 0.63.
Ramelius Resources Ltd (ASX:RMS) declined by 6.32% or 0.09 points to end at 1.34, and Westgold Resources Ltd (ASX:WGX) was down 6.17% or 0.10 points to 1.52. At the close of the session, falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 646 to 595, with 441 ending unchanged.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 2.66% to 11.77. Gold Futures for June delivery fell 0.20% or 3.95 to $2,016.55 a troy ounce. In commodities trading, crude oil for delivery in June fell 0.13% or 0.09 to hit $70.78 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract fell 0.23% or 0.17 to trade at $74.81 a barrel. AUD/USD was unchanged 0.00% to 0.67, while AUD/JPY rose 0.24% to 90.38. The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.08% at 101.79.
