Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 1.21%

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At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.21% to hit a new 3-months high.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Perenti Global Ltd (ASX:PRN), which rose 8.54% or 0.070 points to trade at 0.890 at the close. Meanwhile, Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS) added 7.09% or 0.210 points to end at 3.170 and Kogan.com Ltd (ASX:KGN) was up 7.07% or 0.58 points to 8.78 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX:WHC), which fell 2.20% or 0.060 points to trade at 2.670 at the close. Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX:APT) declined 1.81% or 1.57 points to end at 85.08 and Skycity Entertainment Group Ltd (ASX:SKC) was down 1.35% or 0.04 points to 2.92.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 994 to 443 and 369 ended unchanged.

Shares in Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS) rose to all time highs; gaining 7.09% or 0.210 to 3.170.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 4.23% to 11.256.

Gold Futures for February delivery was down 0.32% or 5.75 to $1805.15 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 0.24% or 0.18 to hit $76.16 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract rose 0.32% or 0.25 to trade at $78.92 a barrel.

AUD/USD was down 0.02% to 0.7226, while AUD/JPY rose 0.05% to 83.02.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.02% at 96.220.