Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 1.11%

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At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.11%.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Austal Ltd (ASX:ASB), which rose 5.78% or 0.13 points to trade at 2.38 at the close. Meanwhile, Ingenia Communities Group (ASX:INA) added 5.32% or 0.21 points to end at 4.16 and Mesoblast Ltd (ASX:MSB) was up 5.15% or 0.04 points to 0.71 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX:MFG), which fell 9.92% or 1.29 points to trade at 11.71 at the close. Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX:PBH) declined 6.25% or 0.18 points to end at 2.70 and Skycity Entertainment Group Ltd (ASX:SKC) was down 5.66% or 0.15 points to 2.50.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 910 to 426 and 349 ended unchanged.

Shares in Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX:MFG) fell to 5-year lows; down 9.92% or 1.29 to 11.71.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 0.10% to 18.95.

Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.41% or 7.30 to $1,808.80 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August fell 0.14% or 0.15 to hit $108.28 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract fell 0.09% or 0.10 to trade at $111.53 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.62% to 0.69, while AUD/JPY rose 0.80% to 92.86.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.07% at 104.84.