Sydney, Australia – On Friday, the Australian stock market witnessed a surge as gains in the Gold, Materials, and Metals & Mining sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close of trading in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 index climbed by 0.99%, reaching a new all-time high.
Among the top performers on the S&P/ASX 200 were Mesoblast Ltd (ASX:MSB), which surged by 12.12% or 0.06 points to trade at 0.56 at the close. Additionally, Resolute Mining Ltd (ASX:RSG) recorded an increase of 10.26% or 0.04 points, ending at 0.43, while Omni Bridgeway Ltd (ASX:OBL) saw a rise of 6.34% or 0.09 points, reaching 1.51 in late trade.
Conversely, the session experienced declines, with Zip Co Ltd (ASX:ZIP) leading the losses by falling 7.33% or 0.11 points to trade at 1.39 at the close. G8 Education Ltd (ASX:GEM) also saw a decline of 3.23% or 0.04 points, settling at 1.20, followed by EML Payments Ltd (ASX:EML), which decreased by 3.15% or 0.04 points to 1.23.
There were no advancing stocks against falling ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, indicating the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, declined by 2.62% to 9.79, marking a new 3-month low.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for June delivery surged by 1.90% or 42.10 to $2,254.80 a troy ounce. Crude oil for delivery in May also experienced an increase of 2.16% or 1.76, reaching $83.11 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract rose marginally by 0.05% or 0.04 to trade at $86.99 a barrel.
The AUD/USD exchange rate remained unchanged at 0.65%, while AUD/JPY witnessed a slight decline of 0.10% to 98.51.
The US Dollar Index Futures edged up by 0.20% to 104.27, indicating a mixed sentiment in the currency markets.