Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 1.65%

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At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.65% to hit a new 1-month high.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were EML Payments Ltd (ASX:EML), which rose 30.86% or 0.13 points to trade at 0.53 at the close. Meanwhile, Nickel Mines Ltd (ASX:NIC) added 7.53% or 0.06 points to end at 0.79 and United Malt Group Ltd (ASX:UMG) was up 6.11% or 0.19 points to 3.30 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Chorus Ltd (ASX:CNU), which fell 3.55% or 0.27 points to trade at 7.34 at the close. Brickworks Ltd (ASX:BKW) declined 2.26% or 0.50 points to end at 21.63 and ARB Corporation Ltd (ASX:ARB) was down 1.24% or 0.36 points to 28.65.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 782 to 468 and 359 ended unchanged.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 3.53% to 15.26 a new 1-month low.

Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.30% or 4.95 to $1,645.65 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in December rose 1.35% or 1.17 to hit $87.70 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract rose 1.44% or 1.34 to trade at $94.15 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.25% to 0.64, while AUD/JPY fell 0.27% to 94.88.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.33% at 111.05.